3D. Water Quality Testing

Preparation:

Tasks to be completed:

  1. Complete “Background Information on the Water Quality Testing for Well Watch”
  2. Complete Final Assignment- Due Night of August 6th
  3. Complete the discussion prompt at the end of this page

Materials:

Presentation:

Background Information on the Water Quality Testing for Well Watch

When you have completed the water quality testing of the water samples, drain your “disposal” or “wastewater” cup in a sink and run plenty of water to dilute the tablets that were used.  See LaMotte Manual for more information.

Note:

For our new teachers, please do not become overwhelmed with the information presented in this presentation.  Additional information we don’t normally cover in the classroom was presented here.  The purpose of the presentation is to provide various topics of the testing protocol so you have a better understanding how the testing protocol may fit different units in the curriculum.  It is up to you as to how much you and your students delve into the topics within the classroom that were presented.  Well Watch Facilitators typically cover the basic information for each component of the testing protocol during their visits to the classroom due to time allocation.  Teachers are encouraged to explore the topics further outside the facilitator’s visit.  The Well Watch team is also available to meet with teachers for any assistance needed.

Mentioned Tools:

Final Assignment:

Due by the end of the nigh Thursday, August 6th.

Participating schools are expected to test their monitoring site once a month during the school year – with the assistance of the Program Facilitator of course! But, students experience the full benefits of the program when they actually use the data they have collected to become informed active participants of their community. How can you incorporate water quality testing and the Well Watch Database into your classroom to help students understand their role in the Well Watch Program? Develop an outline, flowchart or draft a lesson to start brainstorming some ideas and submit it to Ivonne. Please be sure to cover at least one of the testing components listed below and include an activity for students to explore the testing component or overarching concept you selected. You may come up with a new activity, incorporate one of the activities discussed in the presentation or modify a lesson from online to fit the Well Watch Program.

We are not requiring teachers to implement this in the classroom due to the current circumstances. The goal of this assignment is for you to brainstorm some ways for incorporating water quality testing in your classroom so students can experience the full benefits of the program. The Well Watch program should support your curriculum and not be something separate that causes more work. Based on your submission, we will try to develop some resources that we will upload to the teacher resources page.

We are being flexible with the format of the assignment. Every person brainstorms differently so we don’t want to restrict anyone’s way of thinking and planning. If you have any questions, please contact Ivonne Morales.

Testing Components (must cover at least one of the following):

  • Nitrate
  • Phosphate
  • pH
  • Dissolved Oxygen
  • Water Levels
  • Water Temperatures
  • Outside Temperatures

You may email your completed final assignment to Ivonne Morales or submit it by clicking here.

Please make sure to complete the post survey.  This can be found under the main menu for Section 3.

If you’d like to provide feedback or comments regarding the Well Watch Program or the workshop, you may do so anonymously using our feedback form.  Thanks!

Optional Videos to assist with previous presentation:

Technical but Understandable Explanation on Methemoglobin

Introduction to pH

How a Septic System Works

Installation of Septic Tank

Resources and References:

Vocabulary:

  • Biota – the animal and plant life of a particular region, habitat, or geological period.
  • Class 1 Cold Aquatic Life – waters that (1) currently are capable of sustaining a wide variety of cold water biota, including sensitive species, or (2) could sustain such biota but for correctable water quality conditions. Waters shall be considered capable of sustaining such biota where physical habitat, water flows or levels, and water quality conditions result in no substantial impairment of the abundance and diversity of species.
  • Class 1 Warm Aquatic Life – waters that (1) currently are capable of sustaining a wide variety of warm water biota, including sensitive species, or (2) could sustain such biota but for correctable water quality conditions. Waters shall be considered capable of sustaining such biota where physical habitat, water flows or levels, and water quality conditions result in no substantial impairment of the abundance and diversity of species.
  •  Confined aquifer – an aquifer that has impermeable material both above and below restricting the water flow from moving vertically
  • Groundwater discharge – When water moves out of the saturated ground to the surface through springs or seeps
  • Groundwater recharge – a hydrologic process, where water moves downward from surface water to groundwater. Recharge is the primary method through which water enters an aquifer.
  • Perched aquifer – an aquifer that occurs above the regional water table. This occurs when there is an impermeable layer of rock or sediment (aquiclude) or relatively impermeable layer (aquitard) above the main water table/aquifer but below the land surface.
  • Sandbar – a long, narrow sandbank, especially at the mouth of a rive
  • Unconfined aquifer – aquifer below the land surface that is saturated with water

Resources and Activities:

Additional Videos:

References:

Discussion Prompt:

Was there any information that was new to you or did this section serve as a refresher?  Let us know if any piece of information stood out to you.

wellwatchadminJuly 3D Water Quality Testing

3 comments

Join the conversation

  • Andy Russell - August 4, 2020

    I spilled samples 2 and 3 over myself just as Ivonne was explaining where they came from! I was relieved they were safe. 🙂

    Lots of good details about the sources and impacts of pollutants which I can incorporate into my curriculum. I’ll also adjust my vocabulary quiz so that I don’t just ask about groundwater, but about recharge and discharge. It was nice that you have a possible perched aquifer so close to the PLC!

    The last ten minutes of the presentation were especially helpful when brainstorming my lesson outline. Thanks!

  • Benita Wilson - August 5, 2020

    A lot of the concepts in the video I was familiar with but I was amazed about how much more there was to know about them. I’m thankful for the more in depth explanation about pH and acid rain (where it comes from, how it forms) many of my students are so intrigued when I mention it and now I have more information to share. I also did not know about all of the sources of dissolved oxygen and how the properties of water like temperature or salinity affect dissolved oxygen so much.

    Like Andy, the last part helped me tremendously when brainstorming my outline. There are so many ways to use this data and have students think and communicate like the scientists they are. Thank you for all your work in this program!

  • Colette Hunt - August 15, 2020

    A good deal of this was a review but I enjoyed learning the about the sources of some of these things. This will make it much easier to explain to students about where these things come from. I like the idea about testing multiple sources and having students predict where they come from. We also do water quality testing when we do outdoor ed and this has given me some new ideas of things that I can do/explain when I do this.


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