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The Reflection of Water Quality on the SFX Pond

Organization(s):St. Francis Xavier Catholic School
Country:United States of America
Student(s):Piper Rohrbaugh
Grade Level:Middle School (grades 6-8, ages 11-14)
GLOBE Educator(s):Amy Woods
Contributors:
Report Type(s):International Virtual Science Symposium Report, U.S. Student Research Symposia (SRS)
Protocols:Dissolved Oxygen, Nitrates, Water Temperature, Water Transparency, pH
Presentation Video: View Video
Language(s):
Date Submitted:04/10/2019
This experiment was conducted by measuring the quality of the SFXCS pond using LaMotte pH, dissolved oxygen, and phosphate kits, an alcohol filled thermometer, and transparency tube. This experiment focused on the question, how do pH, dissolved oxygen, water transparency, phosphate, and water temperature relate and reflect a healthy aquatic environment? The hypothesis states that if overtime the pH, dissolved oxygen, phosphate, water transparency, and water temperature levels are tested in the pond, then the pH levels should range between 6 and 8, the dissolved oxygen should range from 4.0 mg/L to 10.0 mg/L, the phosphate levels should be no more than 0.1 ppm, the water transparency levels should be determined when the bottom of the tube is not seen, and the water temperature should stay between 0℃ to 32℃ because these levels reflect good water quality that should come from the trees that provide shade and oxygen and the high grass that keeps runoff from getting into the pond. All procedures were taken from GLOBE protocols and phosphate procedures were taken from the LaMotte kit. The data supported the hypothesis because through research, the levels fell within the accepted range of a healthy aquatic environment except for phosphate. As the experiment is continued, the data collected will continue to be compared to other GLOBE data to compare the conditions of the water in the various locations. Keywords: pH, dissolved oxygen, phosphate,water temperature, water transparency


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Comments

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Krisanadej Jaroensutasinee
5 Years Ago
Hi Piper,
You have done a great water quality project. I like the way you compared your data with other sites and had five replicates per measurement.
Here are my questions.
(1) In Table 1, why the amount of DO were constant at 10 mg/l from Jan-March?
(2) In Table 1, why on the 10/9/2018 you got the low transparency? Could you come up with 2-3 possible reasons which might explain this result?
(3) You have got really high DO, what kinds of macroinvertebrates you might find at this site? Why?
Love to read your report.
Kris
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Student 4 of Amy Woods-Science 8 Krisanadej Jaroensutasinee
5 Years Ago
Dear Dr. Jaroensutasinee,
Thank You!
Here are my responses to your questions:
(1) The amount of DO was constant probably because of the water temperature levels being so cold. When the water temperature is colder, the dissolved oxygen is higher which might be why the dissolved oxygen levels were 10 mg/L. My kit maxed out at 10 mg/L, so if it was higher, I was unable to tell what that higher value was.
(2) Rain definitely could have caused the transparency levels to decrease because when it rains, Rock Creek and our school pond collide. Rock Creek collects runoff as well as the pond so runoff is another factor. However, it did not rain before October 9th. Wind and geese may have caused the transparency to be lower or it could have been we made a mistake when getting our reading.
(3) There would be a variety of all kinds of macroinvertebrates because of the good water quality levels. Some of them include stonefly nymphs, mayfly nymphs, and caddisfly.
Thank you again for commenting on my report and encouraging me!
Sincerely,
Piper Rohrbaugh