Assessing Water Quality in a Local Creek by Sampling Aquatic Macroinvertabrets
Charlie Crannell
Introduction
Standards
Objectives
Activities
Assessment
Results
Resources
Introduction
In this lesson, students will be collecting macroinvertabrets from a stream, identifying  the specimens collected, and logging the information into a data table.  From the data, the students will then be making qualitative and quantitative interpretations of water quality in the stream from the data collected.
Life Science
Ecology
9-12 grade
Student Lesson name and URL:  ctap295.ctaponline.org/~crannell/student/home.html
Standards Addressed
Content Strand:  Life Sciences
Substrand:  6 Ecology
Goal for Substrand:  Stability in an ecosystem is a balance between competing effects.  As a basis for understanding this concept:
 
6a Students know biodiversity is the sum total of different kinds of organisms and is affected by alterations of habitats.

6b Students know how to analyze changes in an ecosystem resulting from changes in climate, human activity, introduction of nonnative species, or changes in population size.

 

  •  Instructional Objectives
  • Students will be familiarized with proper collecting techniques.
  • Students will learn how to create and label an organized data table.
  • Students will use the "Scientific Method" to evaluate water quality in a local creek.
    • Student Activities
     
    • Students will read associated text passages followed with a lecture on ecological principals.
    • Students explore associated web sites
    • Students, working in small lab groups, will design an experiment and type a pre laboratory write up for assessing water quality in a local creek.
     Enabling Activities)
    • Students will collect macroinvertabrets from a local creek.
    • Students will sort macroinvertabrets into Orders.
    Culminating Activity
     
    • Students will write a post lab including an assessment of water quality based on interpretations of their data.
    Assessment
    Results

    To view the raw data for this graph and other graphs click here.
     

    Web Resources & Supplementary Materials

    Introductory Activity
    http://www.usu.edu/buglab
    http://extension.usu.edu/bearrivered/project/index.html

    Enabling Activity
    http://140.211.62.101/aquaticinsects/aqinsect.html

    Culminating Activity
    http://www.slsii.org

    Foothill High School
    9733 Deshcutes Road, Palo Cedro, CA 96073
    "Final Presentation"
    Charles Crannell, ccrannell@suhsd.net
    Last Revised: 06/29/2001