Seneca Lake Research Plan 

Research Question: How does the water quality of Seneca Lake affect the conditions of plants/animals living in the lake? 

Variables: 

• Controlled- amount of water being tested, what part of the lake we test from, what day we go on
• Independent- depths of the three locations
• Other- the amount of dissolved oxygen, turbidity, pH, temperature

There are many factors that are crucial to the success of aquatic ecosystems such as the levels of 
dissolved oxygen and pH. A deficiency of DO is a sign of an unhealthy body of water. There are a variety of factors affecting levels of DO. The atmosphere is a major source, waves and tumbling 
water mix atmospheric oxygen with lake water. Oxygen is also produced by rooted aquatic plants and 
algae as a product of photosynthesis. The pH of river water is the measure of how acidic or basic the water is on a scale of 0-14. It is a measure of hydrogen ion concentration. According to the Water Research Center, the generally accepted minimum amount of DO that will support a large population of various fishes is from 4 to 5 mg/l. When the DO drops below 3 mg/l, even the hardy fish die. Species that cannot tolerate low levels of DO - mayfly nymphs, stonefly nymphs, and beetle larvae - will be replaced by a few kinds of pollution-tolerant organisms, such as worms and fly larvae. The Science of Seneca manual says that a pH of less than 5 or higher than 8.5 is bad for plant life. Low pH is especially harmful to immature fish and insects. According to Lenntech, water with a pH of about 9.6 will cause the gills and eyes of fish to be damaged. 

Hypothesis: I think the DO and pH levels of Seneca Lake will be within a healthy level in order to maintain animal and plant life.

Procedure: 

• Collect an equal water sample from 3 of our locations 
• test for DO by adding 8 drops of the manganese(II) sulfrate solution (bottle 4167) followed by 8 drops of the alkaline potassium iodize azide solution (bottle 7166) to the LaMotte sample bottle
• mix it all up and wait 3-4 minutes to allow the orange/brown precipitate to settle
• add one level of sulfamic acid (bottle 6286) to the solution you made above 
• shake until all crystals have dissolved 
• pour this new solution from the LaMotte bottle into the titration tube up to 20ml
• fill the Direct Reading Titrator (0337) up to the 0 mark with the sodium thiosulfate solution
• put the titrator through the hole in the cap of the titration tube and stir in one drop of titrant until the bluish color is gone. 
• dump everything left over into a labeled waste container and clean with distilled water. 

Question: Will we be doing this much of a detailed procedure or a less complex procedure like our Furnace Brook lab?

Citations:  

• Water Quality." Water Quality. Cuyahoga River Water Quality Monitoring Program, Cleveland State University, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.
• Oram, Brian, Mr. "Dissolved Oxygen in a Stream May Vary from 0 Mg/l to 18 Mg/l. Readings above 18 Mg/l Are Physically Impossible." Dissolved Oxygen in Water, Streams, Watershed. Water Research Watershed Center, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.
• "Water Treatment Solutions." PH and Alkalinity. LennTech, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.

How I impact the carbon cycle:

Breathing in oxygen and breathing out carbon dioxide

Driving cars

When we die, carbon is released into the atmosphere

Burning fossil fuels

Deforestation

Armadillos in the Savanna

Of the 20 known species of Armadillos, the majority tend to live in Savannas or grassland type regions. They are not a targeted source of prey and don’t play an essential part of an ecosystem. They live underground and sleep up to 16 hours a day. The savanna biome is an area that has a very dry season and then a very wet season. They are situated between a grassland and a forest. They can also overlap with other biomes such as a grassland. There are Savanna's located in Africa, South America, India, and Australia. These areas are hot all year round and overall very dry, with an average temperature of 63 degrees. In the most known Savanna, the African Savanna, you can find mostly find animals such as wildebeest, warthogs, elephants, zebras, rhinos, gazelles, hyenas, cheetahs, lions, leopards, ostrich, mousebirds, starlings, and armadillos!! All the animals are extremely dependent on each other for food supply. Because of this, herbivores have developed traits to escape predators, such as being fast, being tall and being large. Most birds and large mammals migrate during the dry season to search for water. Grasses are also a dominant plant in a Savanna, along with Acacia and Baobab trees. In order to survive the dry season, some store water in their roots and extend their long roots deep into the ground to reach water reserves. The Baobab tree has adapted to the savanna biome by only producing leaves during the wet season and being able to store water inside its trunk. Since the Savannas are so dry there are many wildfires, these fires burn the little bit of vegetation that is in the savannas. Humans have made the soil worse by over farming it. If the biome is too dry, there won't be any water for the animals to drink, they will die of dehydration, and eventually become extinct. To solve this, we as humans need to learn how to leave the world alone!! The animals and plants will learn to adapt to the natural dryness of the land, but not to the torn up, barren soil caused by humans.  

Citations:

<a href="http://www.softschools.com/facts/biomes/savanna_biome_facts/163/">Savanna Biome Facts</a>

"Earth Floor: Biomes." Earth Floor: Biomes. ETE Team, 28 Apr. 2005. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.

Armadillos. Animal Corner, n.d. Web.

Furnace Brook Lab Report

Introduction:  In this lab, we inferred the quality of water throughout many different tests. We determined the health of the stream by testing it’s levels of pH, dissolved oxygen and nitrogen compounds. We also searched for the living populations of aquatic invertebrates that exist in the brook, depending on what species we found, we could indicate the amount of pollution based off the sensitivity of the invertebrates.

Research Question: Can we determine the total stream quality of Furnace Brook based off what organisms we find to live in the water at two different locations?  

Hypothesis:  I estimate that the testing location will create a difference in the results of the overall health of the stream, because the surrounding elements of locations such as a nearby trash can, a bridge, or a nearby hill can differentiate health levels between two locations. Amounts of runoff from surrounding elevations are a big part of pollution, and can pick up pollutants that soak into the soil, such as pollutants from a rusty, weathered trash can.

Variable Identification:  

Controlled Variable	Method to control the variable
Stream Location Golf Ball Distance used to determine flow rate	used the same stream for both locations used two separate locations dropped the same golf ball the distance was 40 ft everytime

Experimental Setup : My team found two different locations along a stream that we used to test water quality. We determined our locations by trying to find two locations that varied the most from each other. The first day we used a net to trap any macroinvertebrates that were in the stream at both locations. At both locations the pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen and turbidity were measured. On the second day, we measured the stream flow with a ping pong ball. All the same measurements were made first day, expect for the stream depth, that was additionally taken.

Procedure:

1. found first location
2. took temperature
3. measured dissolved oxygen
4. measured pH
5. measured turbidity
6. set up net in the water
7. kicked up rocks and dirt to find invertebrates
8. looked at invertebrates up close to identify them
9. counted each organism
10. repeated steps 6-11
11. found second location
12. repeated steps 2-11
13. measured 40 ft at first location
14. measured depth 6 times and averaged it
15. dropped ping pong ball at the start of 40 ft
16. timed it
17. repeated steps 13-16 5 times
18. repeated steps 13-17 at second location

Here is a visual representation of the different locations we sampled 

Data:  

day 1	temp	dissolved oxygen	pH	turbidity
location 1	18 degrees	4 ppm	7	clear
location 2	18 degrees	4 ppm	7	clear

day 1	temp	dissolved oxygen	pH	turbidity
location 1	10 degrees	0 ppm	8	clear
location 2	10 degrees	0 ppm	8	clear

Macro-Invertebrate	Total Biomass in Sample
	Location 1	Location 2
Caddisfly Larvae	1	1
Stonefly Nymphs	0	3
Cranefly Larvae	1	0
Scuds	1	11

Below is a link to view a graph presenting the macro-invertebrate data.
https://onedrive.live.com/redir?page=view&resid=C4CEA7F2ED19B4E9!124&authkey=!AO72NmUmSYNEL1w

	location  1	location 2
depth 1	.17	0.17
depth 2	.25	0.21
depth 3	.33	0.42
depth 4	.42	0.25
depth 5	.21	0.5
depth 6	.0.33	0.5
average	0.29	0.34

	location 1	location 2
trail 1	22.28	20.7
trial 2	17.78	26.35
trial 3	23.43	24.38
trial 4	24.38	29.13
trial 5	24.32	25.28

Discussion:  There's several different kinds of life in Furnace Brook. There's certain factors that contribute to what lives where. Some of those factors are depth of water, pH levels and oxygen levels.

Evaluation: I don’t think we should have waited so long in between trials because there was overnight rain that could increase runoff into the stream, affecting our results.  

Conclusion:  The levels of pH, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity didn’t vary as much as the different kinds of species we found. The location near the trashcan did have a higher pH and invertebrates with higher tolerance lived in that water.

References – "Chemical Water Pollution « Water Pollution Guide." Chemical Water Pollution « Water Pollution Guide. The Guides Network, n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.

ESS Lab Template

Formatting – headings should be in bold and underlined. A clear font should be used with size 11 font. The spacing should be 1.5 lines with an extra space after the end of a paragraph.

Furnace Brook Lab Report

Introduction:  In this lab, we inferred the quality of water throughout many different tests. We determined the health of the stream by testing it’s levels of pH, dissolved oxygen and nitrogen compounds. We also searched for the living populations of aquatic invertebrates that exist in the brook, depending on what species we found, we could indicate the amount of pollution based off the sensitivity of the invertebrates.

Research Question: Can we determine the total stream quality of Furnace Brook based off what organisms we find to live in the water at two different locations?  

Hypothesis:  I estimate that the testing location will create a difference in the results of the overall health of the stream, because the surrounding elements of locations such as a nearby trash can, a bridge, or a nearby hill can differentiate health levels between two locations. Amounts of runoff from surrounding elevations are a big part of pollution, and can pick up pollutants that soak into the soil, such as pollutants from a rusty, weathered trash can.

Variable Identification:  

Controlled Variable	Method to control the variable
Stream Location Golf Ball Distance used to determine flow rate	used the same stream for both locations used two separate locations dropped the same golf ball the distance was 40 ft everytime

Experimental Setup : My team found two different locations along a stream that we used to test water quality. We determined our locations by trying to find two locations that varied the most from each other. The first day we used a net to trap any macroinvertebrates that were in the stream at both locations. At both locations the pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen and turbidity were measured. On the second day, we measured the stream flow with a ping pong ball. All the same measurements were made first day, expect for the stream depth, that was additionally taken.

Procedure:

1. found first location
2. took temperature
3. measured dissolved oxygen
4. measured pH
5. measured turbidity
6. set up net in the water
7. kicked up rocks and dirt to find invertebrates
8. looked at invertebrates up close to identify them
9. counted each organism
10. repeated steps 6-11
11. found second location
12. repeated steps 2-11
13. measured 40 ft at first location
14. measured depth 6 times and averaged it
15. dropped ping pong ball at the start of 40 ft
16. timed it
17. repeated steps 13-16 5 times
18. repeated steps 13-17 at second location

Data:  

day 1	temp	dissolved oxygen	pH	turbidity
location 1	18 degrees	4 ppm	7	clear
location 2	18 degrees	4 ppm	7	clear

day 1	temp	dissolved oxygen	pH	turbidity
location 1	10 degrees	0 ppm	8	clear
location 2	10 degrees	0 ppm	8	clear

	location  1	location 2
depth 1	4.5	3.75
depth 2	7.6	8.7
depth 3	8.9	4
depth 4	3.1	5.2
depth 5	14.0	5.4
depth 6	15.25	4

	location 1	location 2
trail 1	50.0	31
trial 2	18.53	22.5
trial 3	16.32	30
trial 4	18.22	43
trial 5	15.25	45

Discussion:  There's several different kinds of life in Furnace Brook. There's certain factors that contribute to what lives where. Some of those factors are depth of water, pH levels and oxygen levels.

Evaluation: I don’t think we should have waited so long in between trials because there was overnight rain that could increase runoff into the stream, affecting our results.  

Conclusion:  The levels of pH, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity didn’t vary as much as the different kinds of species we found. The location near the trashcan did have a higher pH and invertebrates with higher tolerance lived in that water.

References – none