ESS LAB WRITE-UP

Furnace Brook Stream Testing

Introduction: In this report my group and I will try to show how water velocity affects the PH, O2, and macroinvertebrate levels and diversity in a section of Furnace Brook.  My group and I conducted this experiment by using tablets in water to measure the approximate values of the PH and O2, as for the the macroinvertebrate my group and my group used a net to determine the number and diversity of macroinvertebrate in that part of the stream, as for the velocity of the water we measured a certain stretch of our sites and dropped a ball to time how long it took the ball to get from one end to the next of the measured area. This experiment was recently done by a group of scientists on Onondaga Lake and they posted their findings on www.doc.ny.gov where the scientists say “Because of pollution control efforts (which began in the 1970s) and more recent cleanup work, the lake is now the cleanest it has been in over 100 years.” This supports the reliability of the experiment we will be doing. I also found the site www.psu.edu/natural-resources helpful because it includes which species of macroinvertibrate indicate clean and which ones represent polluted water. Enjoy all the hard work I've put into this report.         

Research Question:  How does water velocity in a measured stretch of the brook affect the PH, O2, and macroinvertebrate levels of that portion of the brook?   

Hypothesis:  I believe that as the water velocity increases  the levels of  O2, PH, and macroinvertebrates will decrease based on the findings of  www.psu.edu/natural-resources which said that some macroinvertibrates are not able to be too close to fast moving water because their not strong enough swimmers.  

Variable Identification:  

Controlled Variables	Method to Control the Variable
Location of sites	My group and I took pictures of the two sites so we could just go back to the same place the next time we went out.
Length of the velocity trial	We kept the tape measurer the same place as steady as can be in order for us to get a constant time reading.
Time of shaking the beakers for PH and O2	As we shook the beakers full of water and O2 and PH tablets we timed it the first time so we could shake the next sites beakers for the same amount of time.

Experimental Setup :  Our experiment took place in two locations both of which were in Furnace Brook. Location ones coordinates are (43 degrees 1’ .1’’ north and 76 degrees 10’ 15.5’’ west) location one was the closer of the two sites to the school and it was right next to a bridge and net to the bottom of a steep drop off. Location one was also the more shallow of the two sites as well as being the longer velocity distance. Location twos coordinates are (43 degrees 01' 0.12'' north and 76 degrees 10' 10.6'' west) location two was clos to a nearby road and was close to a mini-waterfall.     

Procedure:  1. Get to location 1 and record the coordinates as well as the temperature in Celsius and write them down.

2. Fill up small beaker with water and add 1 tablet of the dissolved oxygen in to get your O2 level while shaking tim it to use for your next site. While you do this you can also fill up the larger beaker with water and add 2 PH tablets and shake that one as well and record the time it takes for the tablets to dissolve and write down those two.

3. Once the tablets are dissolved look in your reference for what color determines the levels of your PH and O2. (PH have no units and O2’s units are ppm)

4. Next set up your net at an angle facing away from the flow and kick rocks in front of the net.

5. Record the number and type of organisms you find in the net.

6. Measure the width of the stream as well as 5 evenly measured points where you measure and record depths at each of those points. (Measure in meters)

7. Measure a stretch of the stream one person at each end holding the measuring tape.(meters)

8. Drop a ball and record the time it takes for it to go from end to end.(record in seconds)

9. Calculate the velocity at which the stream is moving.(record in meters per second MPS)

10. Repeat step 8 five times at current site.

11. Find new site. call this site 2.

12. Repeat steps 2-9 for new site.     

Data:     During this investigation our group found that even though the velocity increased the PH levels and the O2 levels did not get change in the least bit. But where the PH and O2 levels remained constant the macroinvertebrate numbers seemed to have been significantly impacted due to the variation in velocity. The diversity of the macroinvertebrates also seemed to have been impacted by the streams fluctuations in velocity. Now none of this would be reliable if the velocity did not change, but thankfully it did in the different locations this chart shows how velocity affected the dependent variables.

Site #	Average Velocity (MPS)	O2  (ppm)	PH levels	Number of macroinvertebrates	Number of different species of macroinvertebrates
1	1.21mps	4ppm	7	15 macroinvertebrates	3 different species of macroinvertebrates
2	0.422mps	4ppm	7	20 macroinvertebrates	5 different species of macroinvertebrates

  

Results :    

Discussion:  My findings during this investigation were that the velocity of the stream flow did not affect the PHor the O2 levels in the water, but it does affect the amount and the variation of macroinvertebrates in the water. This is supported when the website www.water.epa.gov says that physical features such as water temperature, rate of flow, and depth directly affect the number of mcroinvertebrate in the water.     

Evaluation:  During this experiment I realized that no matter how different the locations were, you cannot base a strong claim on two sources, because you never know if it is a fluke or not. Another limitation that this experiment had was that that times and measurements are never 100% correct due to human error. If we used more than 2 locations the end conclusion could have been more precise. Human error is just human error and it is not fixable without using machines to do the time and calculations.    

Conclusion:      My hypothesis said that I thought PH, O2, and the macroinvertebrate levels would all decrease when velocity is increased. My data states that PH and O2 levels were unchanged when velocity was increased. The data also shows that macroinvertebrate numbers as I said decreased as stream velocity increased. This means that my data supported ⅓ of my hypothesis, so as much as I want to be right my hypothesis was more wrong than it was right.   

References – "Chapter 4 Macroinvertebrates and Habitat." Chapter 4 Macroinvertebrates and Habitat. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2015.

             "Variables in Your Science Fair Project." Variables in Your Science Fair Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2015.

"Disclaimer." Onondaga Lake. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2015.