Water Quality Testing at Ritter Park

On Saturday, April 21st, our class took a field trip to Ritter Park.  One of the many things we did that day was test the water quality of Four Pole Creek near the park's picnic shelter.  We used Vernier Labquests and a variety of sensors to take readings and used the data to determine the overall water quality.  My tests showed the overall water quality to be in the average range.

Steps to test water quality:

 1.  Get a sample of water.  When conditions permit, you can perform tests in the stream (pond, river, etc...) but if not, you can use a bucket to gather the water and perform your tests in a more appropriate place.

2.  Use Labquest and probes to obtain readings for the temperature, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, pH, and turbidity.  To ensure an accurate reading, calibrate probes and clean with distilled water before (and after) tests.

3.  Use the charts and data table found in the Lab manual (see link below) to convert these readings to an overall water quality score.  It can be helpful to create a spreadsheet that will perform the calculations for you, especially if you will be performing multiple tests.
     Water Quality Testing Lab

March Showers Bring April Flowers...

It might not have the same ring as the traditional saying, but with the warm winter spring has come early in West Virginia.  I love seeing the changes each day as trees grow more leaves and the beautiful flowers begin to bloom with all of their vibrant colors.  It has been quite some time (like 15 years) since I have studied types of trees, plants, and flowers.  So last week I decided to take my camera as I went for a walk around my neighborhood and take pictures of my favorite spring flowers.  (See pictures on the Flowers in Huntington page.)  It took me back to my middle school days of collecting leaves from different trees and making scrapbooks with them.  Technology has evolved a bit since then, so I am going to use this blog as my "digital scrapbook" to document what I discover, learn, find interesting, or just like about Forestry (and plants in general) and the Railroad of West Virginia.

When this Forestry & Rail class began I was mostly looking forward to learning about the railroad side of things.  But after Steve Beckelhimer taught his lesson on finding the "board feet" of a tree, I realized how applicable forestry would be in my classroom.  I have a few lesson ideas of my own coming together...