Have you ever wondered what is living in your local pond and rivers, and what the quality of the water is? This is what our class went out and studied, with our main objective being to figure out the types of invertebrates (creatures with no backbones) living in the Coquitlam river and oxbow pond near our school. Also, to take water quality measurements in order to figure out the quality of each body of water. This study we conducted connects to the 4 spheres in which the earth is made up of (Hydrosphere – water on earth, geosphere – solid non-living parts of the earth, biosphere – all living organisms on earth and atmosphere – all the air surrounding ,and inside of us on earth). It is connected through the hydrosphere, obviously since we are studying the quality of the water. However, this also is connected through the biosphere since we studied the invertebrates in the water which are part of the biosphere.

The first waterway we tested was the Coquitlam river. We all split into groups and measured the levels of different contributing factors to the water quality index with thermometers for temperature and pH strips for the others. To check the temperature one team member stuck a thermometer in the river water about 15 centimeters from the surface and held it there for 2 minutes. Next, we immediately took it out and snapped a picture of the temperature showing (17 degrees). For the pH strip test the same group member scooped up a vile of water from the river and brought it back to land. The rest of the team swirled the strip in the vile of water twice and immediately took photos of the strip, and 30 seconds after. We then as a class averaged our answers to get the final levels of each water quality factor. Our results for the test are in the following table:

 

As you may be able to tell from the chart, the numbers to the left are the levels of each water quality. The numbers on the left are compared to another chart to get their equal numbers for the Q-value, then multiplied by the weighting factors to reveal their final weighted Q-values. These numbers are then added together. This eventually equals the approximate water quality index (bottom right). The final approximate water quality index is what determines how good the quality of the water is. The higher the number, the better the quality of the water.  Since the water quality index for the Coquitlam river is 89.7, it falls under the upper end of the GOOD category. These categories are the groupings each water qualities index is split into. For reference 0-25 = poor quality, 26-70 = average, 71-90 = good and 91-100 = excellent. The good category means that the water is not perfect with a few minor issues, but in whole it is safe for recreation and supports life.

 

The other experiment we conducted at the Coquitlam river was a test to see how many, and what types of invertebrates lived in the waters. I was the group member that went through with this part of the study. We collected the different invertebrates by, going into the middle of the river, putting the net between our legs, and scrubbing the rocks in the area around us underwater in front of the net  (to catch the invertebrates) with a nail brush (to detach the invertebrates from the rocks as they cling on to not get swept away with the current). Once most of the rocks in our about 1-foot square were scrubbed, the people in the river filled up another bucket with water and dumped the stuff inside the nets, into it. Our groups then inspected the water to see if we could find any invertebrates and identified them with ID sheets. If we found any invertebrates, my group put them into vials with water to look at closer. In the photo to the right you can see an invertebrate swimming in the middle and 5 more at the surface. After we made it back to our classroom every group contributed and wrote down all the invertebrates we found at the river (to the left). From the types of invertebrates found in the river we can tell that the water quality is very good because majority of the invertebrates are type 1(which means that they can only survive in good water quality).

 

After the Coquitlam river we did virtually the same experiments on the oxbow pond with a few adjustments. Each group did the temperature and pH strip check, and took photos at the same points. These were our water quality results for the oxbow pond:

Like the chart for the Coquitlam river, the results for the pH strips are on the left-hand side. The numbers on the right are added together which equals our water quality index for the oxbow pond. Since the index is 79.9, the oxbow pond is in the same GOOD category as the Coquitlam river and is safe for recreation and life forms. Since the pond had a bit of a stench and was not very clear, I think it surprised most of the class to realize that the pond was actually in the same category as the river.

 

 

         Once again like at the river I was the member who collected the invertebrates. This time in the pond we collected them differently. Instead we walked around the edges of the pond near the trees, skimming the top of the         water with the net to collect invertebrates. Once we were done collecting the invertebrates, we emptied them into a bin with water and inspected the invertebrates that we found. In the pond there were many more different creatures than in the river. For example, in the bushes near the pond we found a baby garter snake (to the right) and in the water we found a huge water boat man (to the left), we even found some unidentified eggs! Once back inside, the class once again shared all of the invertebrates we had found (bottom right). The majority of the invertebrates found in the oxbow pond are under type 1 as well, which means that the water must be good quality, since type 1 invertebrates can only survive in good water quality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Based on their water quality index even though the river was clear and seemed much cleaner than the smelly dirt filled pond, they both ended up being in the same category in the end. In the GOOD category as said earlier, both of these bodies of water are safe for humans to swim in with direct contact and to hold underwater life. This proves that you should not judge a book by its cover, or a pond by its smell! In comparison I noticed that the pond had more “different” types of life in and around it, while the river had mostly just the common invertebrates. I think this may be because of a few reasons. Maybe because the river has more light shining on it from less trees hanging overtop causing different species to be more abundant. Whereas the pond had more trees covering it and more places for creatures to hide. Another reason could be that the river is constantly moving while the pond is still. Other than the new, and weird things found we did also find a few of the same invertebrates in the pond as we did in the river like caddisfly and mayfly larvae. I think this is because both of these are found in clean water which I proved earlier that both the river and pond had.

 

In conclusion during this lab I learned about a bunch of different invertebrate species that I didn’t even know where in the water until now. I think it was cool to see all of the tiny things we don’t even think about when we look into the pond or river. Some suggestions I have to make this lab even better for next time is to maybe have magnifying glasses with us so that we can look at the invertebrates easier and identify them more accurately.