Step 4: Analyze & Communicate Your Data

Was my hypothesis conclusively right or wrong? What next?  At this point, you should be able to tell if your data not only proves or disproves your hypothesis, but whether it does so conclusively. Conclusively means you can say without much doubt that your hypothesis was right or wrong and the reasons why. If you […]

Step 3: Observe, Collect Data & Evaluate Results

Did the data I collected prove or disprove my hypothesis?    We recommend having students keep a science notebook to record their field observations and data points. You should make detailed observations about the study site whenever you visit it. For this module, good things to note would be the presence or absence of vegetation around […]

Step 2: Formulate a Hypothesis & Make Predictions

What do you want to find out about your study site’s water quality, how will I measure it and what are your predictions? Check Your Thinking: Scenario: There is an abandoned mine dump within 5 meters of your study site stream. How might contaminants in the mine waste be impacting your stream? When would be […]

Step 1: Observation & Research

What do you know about your study site and your watershed? The steps you take in answering this question will lead you toward formulating the questions that you want to answer with respect to water quality (i.e. our testable question) through the monitoring field activity. Check Your Thinking: What watershed is your study site within? […]

How to Create a Water Quality Monitoring Plan

We know what water is. We know what water quality is. Now all we have to do is go out and monitor water quality, right? Wrong. It’s not quite that easy. While we will be putting everything we’ve just learned together to develop a plan to investigate water quality near our school or home, we […]

Water Quality Parameters: Dissolved Oxygen

Dissolved oxygen, often referred to as DO, is simply the amount of oxygen that is dissolved in the water. It is measured in mg/L or ppm and is correlated with the water’s temperature to give a % saturation. When DO levels fall below 8 or 9, most trout and oxygen-sensitive aquatic insect populations like stoneflies […]

Module 4:
Water

After completing this module, you will be able to: Describe the chemical and molecular properties of pure water and how they relate to water in the environment (e.g. the water cycle); Plan and conduct basic water quality monitoring using World Water Monitoring Day field kits in a sound scientific method to assess water quality; Communicate […]