Our field studies helped us learn about invertebrates and which invertebrates live better in different water qualities. This connects to our spheres study because these invertebrates live in the spheres we are studying. Our objective is to have a hands-on experience while learning about the four spheres in a way that also teaches us about how to get invertebrates and how to keep them safe while studying them.
In the Coquitlam River, our group found one caddisfly larvae in our water veil. Our water quality for the river was 87.8 as a class which is under the good quality water. This means the rivers water is safe for human contact and has very little impairment. Normally, good waterways support a large diversity of life but sometimes can be below desirable levels. We found not a lot of invertebrates in the Coquitlam river because the water is fast-moving and most invertebrates cannot survive in that water. This means the health of the river is in good condition considering the amount of vegetation and clear water.
In the Oxbow Pond, near Riverside, we found many different invertebrates which live in various conditions. The water quality index for the pond was 73.4 which is in the good category of water. This tells us that humans can have direct contact with this water, but it is not exactly clean-looking. The health of the pond is in good condition because various invertebrates live there some in which could never survive if the water was in poor condition. We found fish, water boatmen, caddisfly larvae, and some immature stoneflies. This means the health of the pond is a suitable living space for many species and even though the water many look muddy and dirty, it is actually in good condition for all of these many species we have found.
We got 89.5 on the river water quality, which is good in my opinion for the amount of dirt and mud in some parts of the river. In Oxbow Pond, we got around a 73 which is still under good quality
The water quality and invertebrate life differ from river to pond. the river had more cleaner water because the water was moving faster but it did not have a lot of invertebrates or vegetation. The pond had still, cloudy water but had tons more life and vegetation. I think the difference is that the water in the pond in still so life can grow and live without being pushed downstream. This makes the diversity of the life and invertebrates different between the two testing sites.
In conclusion, I think these activities were a great way to learn about waterways and invertebrates while having a hands-on class with real-life invertebrates. I learned how to test water quality and what invertebrates live where and why different water ways hold different or more diverse wildlife and other features. I think to make this activity more meaningful would to have more outside time to learn about invertebrates in real-time.