In the past few days in our grade 9 science class, we’ve been going out to the Coquitlam River, and the Oxbow Pond.
We explored water quality, by chemical analysis, temperature, weather, and invertebrates living in the waters from the two bodies of water. We measured the temperatures by holding thermometers. For the temperature of the air, we checked the weather forecast, and then used thermometers to be more precise to our location. For the water temperature, we wore life jackets and hip waders and then went into the river to use the thermometer. To test the chemical analysis, we got a sample of water in a tube and used water quality strips to test the pH, Nitrate, Nitrite, Hardness, and Carbonate. On the container of the strips, It tells you all the colors that It may turn into based on the water, and we compared our strips to that.
This is how we got the water temperature
This is the chart we compared our chemical analysis results to
Coquitlam River:
On September 30th, the weather was a bit damp because it rained in the last two days. The wind was a light breeze, and the cloud cover was clear. Based on the water appearance, It was pretty clear, with a little bit of greenish-brown because of the bottom substrate. Other than that, there was no apparent odor in the Coquitlam River. Canopy cover was narrow and the lands around the river had a few paths, not to the point where it interferes with nature but there are enough path spaces for people to walk on. A lot of trees and bushes surround the river, the bank is stable, and the stream is moderately fast. The substrate consisted of a lot of rocks, gravel, and dirt. The average air temperature was 15°C, and the average water temperature was 11°C. The average pH result was 6, the average nitrate was 0, the average nitrite was 0, the average hardness was 35, and the average carbonate was 30.
After the first day, we went to the Coquitlam River again the next day to catch invertebrates. We wore our hip waiters and life jackets again, and took a net and started digging around in the substrate for any small bugs. The insects that live in a certain body of water determine the water quality. So at the Coquitlam River, we only found 2 insects, a water strider, and an aquatic worm. The aquatic worm is category 1, so therefore the Coquitlam River is a clean body of water.
Aquatic worm we found at the Coquitlam River
Water-strider we found at the Coquitlam River
Oxbow Pond:
On October 2nd we went to Oxbow Pond. It rained the day before that so it was damp outside. The wind was a light breeze as well, but there were a lot of clouds covering the sun so It felt colder than the day we went to the Coquitlam River. The odor of the Oxbow pond was very a poignant sewage/ rotten egg/ swamp smell. The pond colour was a turbid brown because of the dirt substrate that got mixed into the water when we went into the water with our hip waders. The canopy cover was open (because it’s a pond), and there were some paths but not as many as the Coquitlam River because I think fewer people go to the Oxbow Pond. The riparian zone had wide parts and skinny parts, the band was not the stablest and the pond substrate was mossy dirt. The average air temperature was 15°C, and the average temperature was 11°C. The average pH was 7, the average nitrate was 20, the average nitrite was 0.5, the average hardness was 30, and the average carbonate was 35.
After digging around the Oxbow Pond for invertebrates, we found quite a bunch of them. The bugs we found that live in the pond proves that Oxbow Pond is a clean body of water.
These are the invertebrates we found at the oxbow pond :
Dragonfly nymph
Dragonfly nymph
Caddisfly larva
Damselfly larva
backswimmer
Comparison:
Water quality-wise, both bodies of water seemed quite clean and safe. Both had similar quality results. The reason why I think they do is that they probably both come from the same source. Unlike the Coquitlam River, Oxbow Pond seemed dirtier at first because it isn’t a moving body of water. That is the same reason why we didn’t find as many invertebrates in the Coquitlam River because bugs can’t stay still if the water current is pushing them. The only difference we found between the two is that the pond had 20 nitrites and the river had 0. Thankfully, small amounts of nitrites do not affect living organisms in the water, but access amounts of it can do harm. Other than that both of the chemical analyses from the two rivers matched up pretty well.
Reflection:
Overall I thought this experience was very fun. I liked how we went out into nature and explored the waters in the hip waders. It was a once in a lifetime sort of experience. I enjoyed it a lot and it got me talking and socializing with more people. Not only do I think it’s fun, but I also learned a lot about water quality and invertebrates. I wish to do something similar in future science courses, and I think it is a great way of engaging learning.
People that I was working with:
Leige, Monica, Nele, and Lorraine