This is a description of the equipment we use to collect data from the creek. We collected the data once a week when we were in school. We went out on Tuesday afternoons between 2:45 and 3:15.
We used a LCD thermometer and a digital probe to collect the air temperature and the water temperature at first. Eventually we used only the digital probe. We recorded the temperatures in degrees Celsius
.
Temperature Probe
We used some tablets and a color chart to measure the dissolved oxygen in the water at first. The tablets had only a rough measure of the dissolved oxygen, so eventually we switched to only a digital probe. The tablets measured dissolved oxygen in ppm (parts oxygen/million parts water) and the digital probe measured in mg/L (milligrams oxygen/liter water). These two units result in the same value.
One of the instruments we use is the oxygen probe!
This is how to use it. First you turn it on then you put the stick in the water which is in the bucket. Next, you hit the play button then you wait patiently while the numbers start to slow down. When it comes to the final number you hit the play button again so the data will be stored. That is how to use the oxygen probe.
A special thing about the oxygen probe is that it always has to be kept in a special container that holds distilled water.
We used tablets with a color chart, a digital pH meter and pH paper to measure the acidity of the water. The measurements usually did not give the same reading so we averaged the readings for our data.
pH meter
We used a Secchi disc to measure turbidity. The small disc was located on the bottom of a plastic container in which we collected the water. Then we estimated how clearly we could see the disc on the bottom of the of the container compared to a chart. The units were in JTU's (Jackson Turbidity Units). The values were not very refined so graphing the data did not make the collected data any easier to understand.
We used a LCD thermometer and a digital probe to collect the air temperature and the water temperature at first. Eventually we used only the digital probe. We recorded the temperatures in degrees Celsius
.
We used some tablets and a color chart to measure the dissolved oxygen in the water at first. The tablets had only a rough measure of the dissolved oxygen, so eventually we switched to only a digital probe. The tablets measured dissolved oxygen in ppm (parts oxygen/million parts water) and the digital probe measured in mg/L (milligrams oxygen/liter water). These two units result in the same value.
One of the instruments we use is the oxygen probe!
This is how to use it. First you turn it on then you put the stick in the water which is in the bucket. Next, you hit the play button then you wait patiently while the numbers start to slow down. When it comes to the final number you hit the play button again so the data will be stored. That is how to use the oxygen probe.
A special thing about the oxygen probe is that it always has to be kept in a special container that holds distilled water.
We used tablets with a color chart, a digital pH meter and pH paper to measure the acidity of the water. The measurements usually did not give the same reading so we averaged the readings for our data.
We used a Secchi disc to measure turbidity. The small disc was located on the bottom of a plastic container in which we collected the water. Then we estimated how clearly we could see the disc on the bottom of the of the container compared to a chart. The units were in JTU's (Jackson Turbidity Units). The values were not very refined so graphing the data did not make the collected data any easier to understand.