Crossroads Elementary School
St. Paul Minnesota

We met in our school science laboratory at 1pm on Wednesday, October 25th. The day had finally come......our  lake sample (water  and "muck") was
waiting in the lab.  Mr. Lindquist (our Science Curriculum Coordinator) helped us out by walking to Loeb Lake (just a few blocks from our school)and securing the sample.  He filled a 20 gallon bucket with a combination of water and muck, scooped from the bottom of the small pond that feeds into the larger lake, by immersing the  bucket and with a scoop net.  The surface temperature of the water was a chilly fifty degrees Fahrenheit and the air temperature was even colder----approximately 40 degrees.  Each small group received a portion of the sample along with tools to help them observe and record data. Ms. Sonia (our residentNaturalist) and Ms. Thompson facilitated the lab.

Question:  What macroinvertebrates, if any, live in Loeb Lake?
Hypothesis:  We believe that there are some macroinvertebrates in the lake, but we're not sure what they are (nomenclature).
Materials: (per table):  shallow tub,t weezers, plastic spoons, eyedroppers, magnifying glasses, small collection boxes,  water/muck sample, and Pond Life Key

Procedure: We looked at the samples carefully with and without a magnifying glass.  It was important to turn over and pick through the leaves, mud and
other stuff that made up the muck (even when it really grossed us out).  We said the sample was stinky, but Ms. Thompson asked us to use  descriptive
words, not value judgements, so we decided that it smelled earthy (like wet dirt) and putrid (like rotting plants). If we found something we thought was interesting,  we scooped it up with the spoons and put it in a sample box for closer observation. We tried to identify it using the key, wrote down a description, drew it, then we gave it to Ms. Sonia.  After a little while,Ms. Sonia asked us to stop searching and to look up at the front of the room.  She used a microscope and a projector to zoom
in and show the stuff we'd found so that we could use the keys together and decide as a whole class what we'd found. 

Here is our list:

nematode - 1
thread worms
mayfly larva - 1
leeches - 3 small and 1 large
damselfly larvae
water mites - 5
blood worms
snails - 2
ant (it was dead)
snail shell
beetle larva
tiny bug (unidentified)
nymph - 1
waterbug
horsehair worm
water strider
lady bug (dead too)
fairy shrimp - 1
aquatic sowbug - 1
springtails -3
freshwater mussels - 3

We shared our data today (October 27th) and decided that Loeb Lake was probably pretty healthy because of all the different macroinvertebrates in there.  Most of us think that lakes around the world have pretty much the same thing in them. We're not sure why.  We're going to discuss it more on Monday (October 30th) and then take a look at what other classes found on the website.  We really loved this project!

 Vanessa Thompson's Third Graders