Measuring the health of a waterway

Focus

The aims of this activity are to:

understand aspects of water quality
evaluate the health of a local waterway by assessing; water quality, level of invertebrate and vertebrate life and the condition of the riparian vegetation
understand the structure and importance of the ecological interactions within the aquatic habitat and environs
develop the scientific assessment skills and processes necessary for habitat assessment and water quality analysis.

Science

Earth and Beyond

3.3 Students collect information that describes ways in which living things use the Earth and the sun as resources.

4.1 Students recognise and analyse some interactions (including the weather) between systems of Earth and beyond.

Life and Living

3.3 Students describe some interactions (including feeding relationships) between living things and between living and non-living parts of the environment.

SOSE

Place and Space

PS 3.3 Students cooperatively collect and analyse data obtained through field study instruments and surveys, to influence the care of a local place.

Systems, Resources and Power

SRP 3.1 Students make inferences about interactions between people and natural cycles, including the water cycle.

English

Following procedural text
Reading reference material
Oral reporting
Writing thank you letters
Writing a big book

Maths

Estimating and measuring distances from the verge of the waterway for riparian study.
Estimating and measuring the temperature of the water (water quality).
Estimating and measuring the length of invertebrates.

Materials

Water Quality Test	Equipment used
Temperature	temperature probe or thermometers (preferably in a protective case)
Turbidity	turbidity tube available from suppliers of scientific equipment white tile or piece of cardboard
Salinity	very clean plastic or glass bottle electrical conductivity probe (salinity meter)

Your school may be able to borrow equipment from your regional natural resource management body, local catchment, landcare or conservation groups, or local government catchment officers involved in healthy waterways.

You will also need:

A Waterways Health Check
Resource Sheet 19 - Macro-invertebrate record sheet and stream rating (PDF, 184K)*
Resource sheet 8 – Temperature (PDF, 80K)*
Resource sheet 9 – Turbidity (PDF, 84K)*
Resource sheet 10 – Salinity (PDF, 126K)*
Resource sheet 13 – Riparian vegetation assessment sheet (PDF, 112K)*
Resource sheet 14 – Riparian assessment key (PDF, 143K)*
Resource sheet 12 – Conducting a water-bug survey (PDF, 191K)*
Resource sheet 15 – Water-bug identification chart (PDF, 158K)*
dip nets or home made stocking net (see Resource sheet 16 – Making your own dip net (PDF, 82K)*)
sorting trays (large white tote box or something similar)
forceps or tweezers
small paintbrush for gently picking out small animals
white ice-cube tray to hold sorted bugs
hand lenses or magnifying glasses
jars to collect samples in
gumboots - if necessary
camera

Teaching considerations

Prior preparation will be necessary to ensure a successful and enjoyable field trip to a waterway.

Testing for water quality and invertebrate life will not be possible if the waterways within your catchment are dry, however gathering information on the riparian vegetation and vertebrate life will still give an indication of the quality of the waterway environs. It will also give a reference point if and when water flows and you are able to test water quality. You could take samples of mud, soil or sand from the bed of the local waterway and add water to them back in the classroom and see if any life or evidence of life appears.

Read through and become familiar with the information within Resource Sheets 8, 9 & 10. Some of this information can be adapted for student use or background knowledge.

If making your own dip net for taking a water-bug survey, do so before your field trip. ‘Resource Sheet 16 - Making Your Own Dip Net’ provides instructions.

Perform the tests you expect the students to perform, prior to your visit to the waterway.

Visit the waterway prior to your class trip to assess accessibility, safety, the best sites for sampling, and the best place to have a break/snack.

Organise transport and parent helpers before the desired date of the trip. Discuss with your helpers the suggested activities and procedure for the trip, and the jobs you would like them to be responsible for.

Consult your school’s risk management policy and undertake a risk assessment of the site.

Depending on the size of your group and the distance needed to travel to your local waterway, discussion and organisation ideally carried out at the site may need to be done in the classroom before and after the field trip.

Handy definitions

Riparian Zone – Refers to the zone directly adjoining a waterway, that is the verge and the bank of the waterway.

Riparian Vegetation – The riparian vegetation occurs within the riparian zone.

Bank Vegetation – Bank vegetation refers to trees, shrubs, grasses etc. actually growing on the bank. The canopy is the tree cover overhanging the water. This vegetation provides food and shelter for aquatic organisms in the form of fallen leaves, twigs, branches etc.

Verge Vegetation – The stream verge is different from the bank. The verge is considered the section of land up to 30 metres from the water's edge. The verge vegetation can be quite extensive but many streams in urban settings have almost no verge vegetation at all.

Science processes

collecting and recording data
measuring
observing
assessing

SOSE processes

understanding
think
participate
investigate
communicate

Sequence

Time: ½ – 1 day

Orientating

The purpose for the field trip should be quite clear to the students prior to the field trip. Check (by questioning) the students knowledge and understanding of the types of investigations to be performed. Ensure students have Resource Sheets 12, 13, 14 & 15 for the water-bug survey and riparian assessment.

Nominate (or students could volunteer) students to do the various tests and assessments:

temperature
turbidity
salinity
riparian vegetation
invertebrate and vertebrate

Make a record of this somewhere in the classroom (corner of the blackboard, or on butchers’ paper). Stress that records made during the field trip will need to be referred to for reporting back purposes.

Organise the students into groups for sampling and testing and go over the roles and responsibilities of each participant e.g.

Share equipment.
Listen and value fellow students’ ideas and attempts.
Be responsible for carrying, using and returning equipment.
Be sensitive to the environment with the view to minimal human impact, return rocks, bugs, where you got them from and avoid any action that will increase erosion.
Make and keep a record of sample and tests.
Work out of the sun as much as possible.
Act on safety procedures for field trips.
Remember your manners and that you are a representative of the school particularly when speaking to helpers, or are near other members of the public who are sharing the waterway.

Check everyone has:

hat
sunscreen, repellent
equipment
record sheets, pencils
water

snack or lunch
first aid kit

Assemble all and move to transport or to your waterway site.

Enhancing

Once you have arrived at the site, place all equipment in a central place unless it has been possible for students to carry equipment with them. Revise who is working with whom and where the students need to go for their sampling. You may need to set a time limit and a reporting back time to a central position. Ensure students know the procedure if they need help.

Remind students of minimal impact procedures (most likely identified in the student’s code of Conduct - see Code of Conduct activity) e.g. take only what you need and put things back where they came from.

Send students off to do their sampling and testing. If possible, have students test salinity, turbidity and temperature at more than one site along the waterway.

Students take samples following the procedure outlined in Resource Sheet 12.

While students are assessing and taking samples, monitor how they are going; checking their procedure and enjoyment of the tasks.

If students break for a snack or lunch, ensure litter is disposed of properly or stored to be carried back to school.

When sampling and assessing is completed you could report back initial students’ findings at the waterway site rather than back in the classroom. This is particularly useful if, due to the size of your group and time constraints, you divided the tasks of assessing and testing between the students.

Synthesising

Return to the classroom, report back and record the findings. You may wish to collate information on butcher’s paper for class reference or use the student’s record sheets.

Ask questions related to the temperature, salinity and turbidity of a waterway from Resource Sheets 8, 9 & 10.

Additional learning

Create a Big Book on local waterways.

Some students may plan to visit the waterway again or regularly. Nominate a time during the school day when they could talk to the class about their visits.

Gathering information about student learning

Sources of information could include:

anecdotal notes about any student alternative conceptions or alterations to conceptions
example of student work such as:
- record sheets from field trip
- big book (if made)
- photos from the field trip.

* Requires Adobe Reader

Last updated 3 September 2010