Transcript Water Quality Test

Water Quality Lab
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Review
1. We, as a class, caught many different species of bugs
on our field trip. What were these specific bugs called?
Benthic Macro Invertebrates
2. What do those words mean?
• Benthic=bottom-dwelling
• Macro=large enough to see with the naked eye
• Invertebrate= a living thing without a backbone
Background
1.
Why would water chemists collect benthic macro
invertebrates?
They are excellent indicators of water quality.
2. What is an indicator of water quality?
An indicator is something in the water that shows us if
the water is healthy or not.
Background Continued
Benthic macro invertebrates are great indicators of
water quality because different species have different
levels of tolerance to pollution.
1. What does it mean to be tolerant of something?
Tolerance= the ability to withstand something, to not
be bothered or affected by it
Tolerance levels
There are three main categories the invertebrates fall
under:
1. Low Tolerant/Intolerant to Pollution
2. Middle Tolerant/ Facultative to Pollution
3. Highly Tolerant/ Tolerant to Pollution
Collecting
When scientist collect the inverts, they give each
species they collect a score based on their tolerance
level.
Low tolerance=1 point
Middle tolerance=2 points
High tolerance=3 points
After they collect, they add up all of the points, and
this score tells the scientist the water quality of the
area they collected from.
Putting it all together
The higher the score, the higher the water quality.
Let’s practice!
Solve this problem: The class went out to the pond and
collected many different species of invertebrates, but
every invertebrate we found belonged to the high
tolerant/tolerant category. What does that say about
the water?
The water quality is very poor because the only things
surviving in it have a very high tolerance to pollution.
Now it’s your turn
Now, you are going to act like a water scientist and add
up your own water quality score based on the
invertebrates that you found. Follow along with your
Critter Score Card Worksheet and let’s find out how
good or not so good the water was!
How many 1 Point Critters did you catch?
 Think back to what you caught on your field trip
 Use the next slide to help you remember the different
species of invertebrates you found in this category
 Write down the number of DIFFERENT species you
found in this category (i.e. if you caught two water
boatmen, that does not count as two) in the box to
the very right of the “One Point Critters” labelled
“Amount Found”
One Point Critters (High Tolerance/ Tolerant to
pollution)
Pouch Snail
Horsefly Larva
Backswimmer
Water Boatman
Thread Worm
Flat Worm
Water Strider
Rat-tailed Maggot
Midge Larva
Water Flea/
Daphnia
Leech
Mosquito Larva
How many Two Point Critters did you catch?
 Think back to what you caught on your field trip
 Use the next slide to help you remember the different
species of invertebrates you found in this category
 Write down the number of DIFFERENT species you
found in this category (i.e. if you caught two
dragonfly larvae, that does not count as two) in the
box to the very right of the “Two Point Critters”
labelled “Amount Found”
Two Point Critters (Middle Tolerance/Facultative
to Pollution)
Dragonfly Larva
Fingernail Clam
Water Scavenger Beetle
Damselfly Larva
Scud
Cranefly Larva
Water Mite
Sow Bug
Water Snipe Larva
Crayfish
Whirligig Beetle
Alderfly Larva
How many three point critters did you catch?
 Think back to what you caught on your field trip
 Use the next slide to help you remember the different
species of invertebrates you found in this category
 Write down the number of DIFFERENT species you
found in this category (i.e. if you caught two Ghost
Shrimp, that does not count as two) in the box to the
very right of the “One Point Critters” labelled
“Amount Found”
Three Point Critters (Low Tolerance/ Intolerant
Organisms)
Mayfly Larva
Ghost Shrimp
Riffle Beetle
Water Penny
Stonefly Larva
Caddisfly Larva
Dobsonfly Larva
Gilled Snail
Water Scorpion
Mussel
Let’s add them up!
Take the number of one point critters you caught and
multiply that number by one, put the new number into
the category labelled “equals”
Creature
Amount Found
Multiply
Point
Equals
1 Point
X
1
=
2 Point
x
2
=
3 Point
X
3
=
Let’s add them up!
Take the number of two point critters you caught and
multiply that number by two, put the new number into
the category labelled “equals”
Let’s add them up!
Take the number of three point critters you caught and
multiply that number by three, put the new number
into the category labelled “equals”
Let’s add them up!
Now add up all three numbers from the last three
slides. This number is your Water Quality Score.
Write down the new number on the line labeled “Total Water Quality Score”
How is the water?
If you got:
10 or less=poor water quality
11-16=fair water quality
17-22=good water quality
23 and up=excellent water quality
Write down the rating on the line labeled “Water Quality Rating”
(Scoring based from Project WET Curriculum- a collaboration of Scientists and Educators)
Class Discussion Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What is a benthic macro invertebrate, and what
role do they play in our wetland ecosystem?
Why do water chemists collect macro
invertebrates?
During your experiment, was there anything that
could have affected your results (variables)?
What could we have done to get better results?
Why is it important that we stop too much
pollution from entering our wetland areas?