ESS Lab Template

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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