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Environmental Collaboration Project

Hewitt-Texas & South Mountain Elementary Schools

Fifth graders from Hewitt-Texas and South Mountain joined forces for a study of each school's unique water environment. South Mountain has a stream environment, while Hewitt-Texas has a wetland (pond) environment. After some preliminary communication between the classes, the students spent two consecutive days in May at the sites. The day was broken up into two segments. The first portion was spent testing the water quality. Groups performed several tests on the water. Below is a table of the results from the testing. This was a great opportunity for students to use many of the skills they have been working on in science this year. The second portion was an organism scavenger hunt. Groups canvassed the aquatic environments in search of living organisms. The excitement and enthusiasm of the students was amazing. As organisms were discovered, students identified and observed them. The use of observation trays, magnifying glasses and microscopes aided in the learning. Below is a table of the organisms found at each site. Also included below are many pictures of the excitement of our collaboration project. To go directly to the pictures, click here. Students will compare and contrast the two environments by creating written narratives. A special thanks to the science department from Wausau East for supplying us with needed equipment to make our project a success. This is the fourth consecutive year that the two schools have performed this project.

	Hewitt-Texas		South Mountain
Test	Test Site A	Test Site B	Test Site A	Test Site B

temperature	66.4	66.9	61.7	61.5
PH level	6.2	5.875	6.3	6.4
ammonia level	0.057 mg/L	0.02 mg/L	0.8 mg/L	0.02 mg/L
nitrate level	2.14 mg/L	2.2 mg/L	3.125 mg/L	2.5 mg/L
nitrite level	0.035 mg/L	0.02 mg/L	0.0125 mg/L	0.05 mg/L
dissolved oxygen	10.7 mg/L	11.9 mg/L	10.6 mg/L	9.3 mg/L
Observations: * Temperature results were lower at South Mountain we believe because the water was moving more, not allowing the sun to warm it as much. The stream was also under tree cover more than the pond, so the sun wasn't able to get directly at the water. The temperature was almost identical at the two different test sites in both locations. Comparing the water temperature with last year's results we noticed that the temperature was about 6 degrees higher at both sites. We attributed this mainly to the dry spring and low water. There isn't as much water to heat up, therefore the water temperature can rise quicker. The average daily temperatures are very close to those of one year ago for the same time period. * The PH level fell in the acceptable range at both sites. This range is a tolerable level for most pond/stream fish. * The ammonia level at three of the locations was near the ideal range. It fell into the Caution range at South Mountain's Test Site A. * The nitrate level fell in the very good range at all test areas. * The nitrite level at both sites fell in the acceptable to ideal range. * Both sites contained adequate amounts of dissolved oxygen for most aquatic life, although the levels were lower at both sites than in past years.

ORGANISM SCAVENGER HUNT

The following organisms were identified at the respective aquatic environments:

* Indicates organism found at both environments

South Mountain Stream Environment		Date: 5/24/05

water boatman *	crayfish *	butterfly
dragonfly larva *	shrew	wood frog *
caddishfly larva *	fairy shrimp	predacious diving beetle *
stickle back *	water spider *	mudd minnow
red-winged blackbird *	water scorpion *	cranefly larva
tadpole *	threadworm	water flea *
June bug *	mosquito *	water strider *
alderfly nymph	water mite *	crawling water beetle *

Hewitt-Texas Wetland (Pond) Environment		Date: 5/25/05

water spider *	giant water bug	caddisfly larva *
water strider *	water flea *	crayfish *
tadpole *	horsefly larva	water scorpion *
predacious diving beetle larva *	green frog	June bug *
leech	backswimmer	Canadian Geese & goslings
dragonfly larva *	red-winged blackbird *	water mite *
damselfly nymph	creek chub (dace)	tree frog
toad	water boatman *	mosquito *
spring frog	snail (type unidentified)	whirligig beetle
stickle back *	wood frog *	fishing spider
crawling water beetle *

At South Mountain's stream environment groups performed a variety of tests on the water supply.

South Mountain's stream also yielded many organisms. Students scavenged with nets and then observed the organisms closer with magnifying glasses and microscopes.