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Spring 2002
Fayetteville High School
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Water
quality is one factor of human life with which all thinking people should
concern themselves. Our Biology class, which is one element of a
progressive alternative learning program called School Within A School at
Fayetteville High School, consists of both tenth and eleventh grade
students who are interested in the quality of water and the relationships
among water in our area and all over the world.
Fayetteville High School, a secondary school for grades ten through
twelve, is located in Northwest Arkansas at the Southern edge of the Ozark
Mountains--a plateau created by runoff. The altitude is 1212.57813, the
latitude is N 36° 03’ 26.3” and
our longitude is W 094° 10’
4.63”. Our stream is the College Branch of the Town Branch of the Middle
Fork of the White River. The water in streams in this area comes from
runoff from rain. Our watershed is the Illinois River, which begins on the
University Arkansas Campus. The stream in which we are most interested for
this study begins on the University of Arkansas Campus, by the Poultry
Science building, and goes underground through U of A parking lots that
surround sports facilities, under Razorback Stadium, Track and Field
complexes, Student Family Housing, and under a road that usually has heavy
traffic. Due to the location of the stream, the growing population of our
town, and the residential areas surrounding the stream, its physical
appearance is anticipated to be unhealthy. Mark Nelson is the head of the
University of Arkansas Water Quality Testing Lab that has state of the art
testing materials. He analyzes water through out the state of Arkansas,
and even came the same day we tested to assist us and to take his own
tests. He analyzed the water on the same day, under the same conditions,
and using the same factors. Nelson also tested the water for fluoride and
chloride. He told us that fluoride and chloride should not have been in
the water unless water was coming in to the streams from households. This
one factor could determine if there was a sewage leak. In some cases our
results were the same as his, and in some they were different. See his
results below.
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Felix Varela High
School - Ms. Escobar
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Felix Varela Senior High
Global Water Sampling Project
Ms. Y. Escobar's Classes
Canal L-31
Miami-Dade County, Florida
Mission:
We tested
water samples from a canal L-31 that borders the entire perimeter of
Everglades National Park. This park is undergoing many efforts to restore
the quality, quantity and timing of the water flow that all South
Floridians depend on. Three of our classes monitored for water quality at
three different stops along the perimeter. We started our journey at L-31
on the Tamiami Trail from the Coopertown Airboat Rides wooden bridge north
of Everglade National Park’s Shark Valley. Then we travel south along the
parks eastern border to Homestead General Aviation Airport where we took
sample two from an old metal bridge. Our final destination was at Glenn
Garrett Memorial Park (park entrance) at the southern border of the
park. L-31 then continues to flow into the park itself towards Taylor
Slough. The areas around the canal are greatly impacted by humans and it
was the consensus of all three classes that the water test will indicate
poor water quality. |
Felix Varela H.S. - Ms. Casal Period 5
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Global Water Sampling
Project Final Report On
Shark River Slough, National Everglades Park By
Felix Varela Senior High Students
Miami, Fl
Honors Chemistry
Period 5
Background Information
(Phosphates):
Phosphates are chemical compounds containing phosphorous. Phosphorous is
vital to human, animal, and plant life. Phosphates usually enter the water
from “industrial waste”, “sewage discharge”, and agricultural runoff”.
Phosphates are plant nutrients that stimulate the growth of algae. When
too much algae is grown, this depletes the water body of oxygen Elemental
Phosphorous was discovered accidentally in 1669 by a German chemist that
was trying to make gold. Phosphates are used to make many products. For
example, phosphates are found in cola drinks, they are used in detergents,
and they are also used to preserve the moisture and taste in some foods
such as ham and shrimp. A limiting factor for plant growth is a phosphate
concentration of 0.02 parts per million (ppm).
The Everglades are located in Southern Florida.
It consists of extensive Marshlands. It has a limestone floor. In the
Everglades, agricultural runoff destroys mats f composite algae called
periphyton. This algae is essential, it provides oxygen and food to small
aquatic organisms. It also helps many organisms to survive the dry season
(December until April) until rain comes again. Shark River Slough is known as the
“River of Grass”. |
Felix Varela H.S. - Ms. Casal Period 6
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here
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Global Water Sampling Project Final Report On
Alligator Farm, By
Felix Varela Senior High Students, Miami
Honor Chemistry
Period 6
PhosphatesBackground
Information: In the water test we collected water from the Everglades
National Park. With those
samples we did different types of tests while looking for different levels
of phosphate, nitrate, D.O levels, Biological Oxygen Demand, Coliform
bacteria, pH and alkalinity. The Everglades
National park is a wetland that
is protected by the government It is the largest subtropical wilderness in
the United States. The everglades has come across many situations, area
farmers are slowly polluting it. Due to the growth of the city of Miami
the Everglades is slowly getting built around and is getting smaller.
Problem Statement:
What will the phosphate levels be in the sampled water?
Hypothesis:
Our hypothesis is that we believe that the phosphate levels will be fair.
Procedure:
Test by using the phosphate kit. It is important that the vials be rinsed
very well. If possible they should be rinsed with distilled or
demineralized before the test is being done. |
Louise R. Johnson Middle School
| The Manatee River Project was developed to provide
students the opportunity to be involved in scientific research that is
educational; career oriented, and would benefit the environment as well as
the community. As part of this project students learned about the Manatee
River watershed and the importance of protecting it. They also learned how
to conduct water quality tests that would evaluate the water at different
locations. The study included a comprehensive water analysis that tested
for various parameters such as temperature, dissolved oxygen, ammonia,
phosphate, pH, salinity, turbidity, nitrates, and alkalinity. The three
locations chosen for testing were DeSoto National Monument which is at the
mouth of the river, Lake Manatee (the freshwater lake listed under data)
the source of drinking water for residents of Manatee County and Rye
Wilderness Park which is between the other locations. A hydrolab was used
to compare the student’s results with those that our chemists recorded.
They were very close. After testing the water students found that all the
results were within the normal range. They also concluded there was no
indication of pollution. Students then took what they learned and produced
a project that will be used to educate the public about water and water
related issues. Some are part of the schools website,
http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/middleschool/johnson/. The funding for
this project was provided by SWFWMD through their SPLASH mini-grant
program. Experts who provided technical assistance were from the Manatee
County Environmental Management Department. |
West Windsor-Plainsboro Community Middle School
| We are the students of the West Windsor-Plainsboro
Community middle school. Our group consisted of seventh and eighth
graders. We have learned many new things from sampling the water
behind our school. First of all we learned what nitrates, phosphates, and
turbidity was. We learned where nitrates and phosphates come from. We
learned how rain affects the amount of nitrates and phosphates and the pH
of the water. We also learned to use different kits to test the water.
These different kits allowed for the use of different chemicals, which
allowed for the comparison of results. In addition, we learned to be
precise and patient. We also learned to work together as a group instead
of working alone. We learned how good the water behind our school really
is. After reviewing the data, we realized that the pH fluctuates between
6.5 and 8. We also noticed that the Dissolved Oxygen is always between 6
and 8 parts per million. In the water we also saw that there were not any
nitrates no matter what the outside environment was. The phosphates ranged
from 1 to 2 parts per million. Another observation was that the water
behind our school is relatively free from debris. We reached the
conclusion that fertilizers did not drift in to the pond or the fact that
it does not rain a lot. The fact that there was little phosphates led us
to the conclusion that the water supported an abundant amount of life. We
could also try to limit the variables. We could test the water at the same
time every day we tested it. We could also make sure the outside
conditions were the same. Then we could see the changes not based on the
outside environment. Another change to our testing could be the sampling
of water in the middle of the pond as well as the edge. |
Gwynn Park Middle School
excerpt, for full report, click here
| The stream in the back of our school is a tributary that
runs into the Chesapeake Bay. We learned that the Chesapeake Bay is the
largest estuary in the lower 48 states. It’s watershed covers 64,000
square miles of land stretching across 6 states. Also, the bay’s
shoreline covers 8,000 miles. So, it is a very important body of water
for us. It does not have a name, but we hope to adopt it and give it one
in the future. |
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