To gain a deeper understanding of how the four spheres connect and function, we explored good examples near us which are the Coquitlam River and the Oxbow pond. Our class went to each of the sites and tested necessary aspects to determine the quality of water in each location. After testing the water quality, we used our findings to expand our learning and realize that the quality of the water depends on plenty of factors from spheres other than the hydrosphere and that all the spheres work together to create healthy and livable habitats.
Coquitlam River
First, we went to our first study site which is this little beach at the Coquitlam river shown above. After listening to Ms. Yorke's instructions, we began our process.
Our first step in our learning journey was measuring the water temperature by taking a thermometer an placing it in the water for a bit.
After taking it out, we saw that the upstream water temperature in the Coquitlam river is 16 degrees Celsius.
Our next step was filling a vial with a water sample to help us with our next steps. So we covered the top of the vial with our hand and released it at the bottom so none of the surface water gets into our sample, making it more reliable.
After getting the water sample we took some test strips to test the water and swirled them in the water then, we took pictures of the strips, one right away and another 30 seconds later.
The picture on the left shows the strip right after swirling it and the picture on the right shows the strip 30 seconds later.
With the results of our test strips, we checked the box to find the corresponding colours to their number for each of the water quality factors and we recorded them on a the paper shown below.
The factors that we measured are the dissolved oxygen, the pH, the temperature change, the nitrates, the phosphorus, the turbidity, and the total dissolved salts. After we checked the graphs to find the Q-value of each factor and with those values we found the overall approximate water quality value of 87.7 which is good water quality. With good quality water that means that it can be habitable by many organisms and life forms. Also, it means that the surrounding factors are good as well.
To identify the types of invertebrates that inhabit the Coquitlam river, we came back to catch some. First we used butterfly nets and placed them into the water. While we held the net in the water we also scraped the rocks in front to get any potential scrapers off the rocks and into the net.
Here were our results:
The invertebrates are very small so in the pictures above, mostly dirt is visible. However, there were plenty found in these waters.
Here's a list of some that our class found:
1 dead moth
3 stoneflies
5 mayflies
2 caddisfly larvae
2 damselflies
1 aquatic worm
1 fruit fly
The examples of some of the invertebrate community show that the quality of water is good and habitable, as it is inhabited by category one taxa invertebrates like stoneflies, caddisflies, mayflies, and possibly more. Invertebrates in category one taxa aren't pollution tolerant so they can only survive in good quality water.
Oxbow Pond
After studying our first site, we moved on to our next which is the Oxbow pond. At the pond we continued with the same process as the river to find our water quality results.
We started off with the temperature check, and the temperature was 15 degrees Celsius.
After the temperature check, we continued with the water sample. So we filled the vial, got the test trips, and tested the water.
The picture on the left shows the strip right after being swirled and the picture on the right is 30 seconds after.
After checking the colour of the strips for their corresponding number for each factor, we recorded those numbers on a sheet. The factors are dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature change, nitrates, phosphorus, turbidity, and total dissolved salts. Then, we checked the graph to find the approximate corresponding Q-value of each of the factors. After that, we were able to find the approximate water quality value of the pond which is 81.7 and still classifies as good quality water. Therefore, the Oxbow pond is still able to support many invertebrates and life forms.
To see what types of invertebrates the water can inhabit and maintain, we got butterfly nets and checked. Since the pond is a more still body of water than the river we caught the invertebrates a bit differently. In the pond, we took the nets and placed them in the water and walked along the edges to see what we would catch.
These were our results:
There were plenty of more invertebrates in the pond. However the water has less turbidity so it looks much dirtier and murkier.
Here's a list of what our class found:
1 dead moth
21 small fish
1 dead spider
1 midge fly larva
4 water boatmen
1 stonefly nymph
4 caddisfly larva
3 true bugs
1 tadpole
3 stick fish
1 aquatic worm
2 water pennies
3 riffle beetles 2 dragonfly larva
1 water mite
1 damselfly
1 bee
1 crane fly
Some of the invertebrates that we found are a part of the category ones taxa like the stonefly, water penny, riffle beetle, mayfly, and probably more. This signifies that the Oxbow pond contains good water quality, as these invertebrates are pollution sensitive.
Comparison
Both the Coquitlam River and the Oxbow pond are classified under good water quality. I found that surprising because I expected the pond to be lower since it's much less pleasing and has less visibility. However, I think the river seems much clearer and cleaner because there's a flow meanwhile, the pond is still and has mud at the bottom instead of rocks. It was also much easier to catch invertebrates in the pond than in the river and there were much more found in the pond too. I think that the biggest differences between the river and the pond are the way they flow and the bottom. For example, the river seems much cleaner because it has rocky bottoms and a flow that moves along all the dirt, animals, leaves, logs, etc. As opposed to the pond which has a muddy bottom and no flow, so everything that falls into the water stays causing the murkiness and the higher amount of life found.
Reflection
I think this activity was a great and fun way to experience the way scientists analyze water and check the quality. Also, I think it's much more beneficial to actually physically do this activity instead of just reading and doing worksheets because it's much easier to understand when actually doing the process than only visualizing and imagining. I find that activities are overall more fun and easier to learn from than textbooks because personally, I am more of a visual and physical learner, and reading can get boring most of the time. This activity also allowed us to use our core competencies and it made getting to know my classmates much easier. This activity was very fun and taught be a lot about how invertebrates actually look and their surrounding habitats. Also, it made the factors much clearer and it helped me understand the concept and why the spheres do what they do and how.
on 
So right away, we got to work and started thinking long and hard.
We started our discovery process with a brainstorm of possible issues we could attempt to solve. Some big categories we though of are pollution, floods, wildfires, quality of health, decision making, exercise, natural disasters, and sleep scheduling.
As we looked more into the ideas, and expanded them into more precise problems. We found ourselves being able to eliminate problems that are already solved or that are much out of our capabilities to solve. The big category we ended up choosing is pollution which led us to decide to help our quality of water.
We put on our thinking caps and started thinking about what we can do to help improve our water quality. We remembered all the different aspects and characteristics of water quality that we learned in the previous unit and used that knowledge to help us out. With our current abilities, we thought to to program a micro: bit to be able to test the turbidity, temperature, speed, and pH levels of the water. Ideally, the micro: bit would sit in water and would be sophisticatedly programmed, but we got pretty close to our ideal idea.
We were able to code our micro: bit to be able to use its sensor to detect the level of light, which allows us to see levels of turbidity in the water. We also used the temperature sensor to signal the temperature in the water and notice any changes. Another sensor we used was the acceleration which lets us know the speed of which the water is going. We also wanted to be able to find the pH level, but that was out of our reach of knowledge and sources however, we were able to find a video that explains how to create a pH sensor. pH Meter for Micro: Bit
