Students in Morris County were able to get a firsthand look at New Jersey’s largest lake thanks to a floating “classroom.”

Fourth-grade students at the Nixon and Kennedy schools in Roxbury were on the maiden voyage of a new boat that turns Lake Hopatcong into a giant, open-air lesson. The boat is owned and operated by the Lake Hopatcong Foundation.

The students get to measure the water clarity, PH and temperatures and also look at lake organisms in microscopes.

The best thing we can do for Lake Hopatcong is teach these kids about it and how to take care of it,” says foundation president Jessica Murphy. “To see it actually happening on the water, in the floating classroom, has just been so rewarding and exciting and this is just the beginning.”

The group also was able to see the lake’s resident bald eagle sitting on its nest.

More information about the program can be found at the Lake Hopatcong Foundation website.