July 29,2011

     This is my final blog! I would like to thank Jackie Gautsch, Mary Skopec, Rebecca Keauten, Jason McCurdy and everyone else who welcomed us into the DNR community and helped us accomplish our goals.
     Some highlights I have from my summer externship include canoeing on project AWARE,  water testing at my site and analyzing the results, attending IOWATER workshops and getting to experience first-hand the interest people have in monitroing Iowa's water and keeping it clean.
     I believe my students will benefit from my experience because I can show them connections between a lab test (pure science) and how it can be used to monitor and improve our environment (applied science).
    I look back on my summer experience as vastly different from what I normally do at work. This not only made it an interesting experience but an experience encouraging personal growth because I had to think differently and use different skills than I typically use in the classroom.
     Lastly, thanks to IMSEP for the opportunity to have my "summer DNR experience"!

July 28,2011

     I forgot to mention that I also spent some time with my net when water testing on the Wapsipinicon on Tuesday in honor of the Benthic macroinvertebratesworkshop I attended last last weekend. Unfortunately between the silt-sand bottom and the high water level, macroorganisms were hard to find. I actually found more of them in my puppy's plastic pool filled with rain water. I have seen a water boatman in there for one. Maybe I will work on identifying organisms form the pool!
     I read my IOWATER bacteria plates today. Yesterday I got a lab reading of 2100 E. Coli bacteria per 100 ml of water. Of the 3 plates I read today using the IOWATER test, one had 59 colonies (*33 for my dilution factor=1947 colonies per 100 ml of water), one had 71 colonies (*33=2343) and one had 97 (*33=3201). That last one is suspect.  Coliform bacteria are pink, white,teal,green, blue or purple. But E. Coli (from fecal matter and potentially disease-causing) are only the blue or purple colonies. A lot of the blue colonies on that last plate seemed to have a teal tint, so I did not know if I should count them or not. If I average all 3, I get 2497. If I average only the first 2, I get an average of 2145, close to my lab test of 2100. Either way, I am well above the safe level of 235 colonies per 100 ml of water.
     I like to see that the IOWATER test bacteria results are similiar to the more accurate lab results because my students will have to rely on the IOWATER bacteria test accuracy since it is the only one we will be using.

July 27th, 2011

     I went to my site on the Wapsipinicon to do my water testing and wow! The water was really high again! Last week it was down to shallows on my side of the river with the main channel by the far bank. This week the river was bank full. My phosphate reading was quite high (a 1 this week up from a .2 last week). I also set up a lab bacteria test and an IOWATER bacteria test. The lab bacteria test had a reading of 21,000 E.Coli ber 100 ml of water. By comparison, last week I had a reading of 10 E.Coli per 100 ml. The IOWATER bacteria test is not ready to read for another 24 hours and already has numerous colonies growing where last week I had one colony. I did not dilute the water as much since I had such a low reading last week and I wanted to get a more accurate reading this time. But with the reising river, the E. Coli readings also typically rise, so I guess I should have known I needed to dilute it more. (It's harder to count bacteria colonies when there are too many of them- they start to blend together.)
     Higher phospahte could mean more runoff from ferilized lawns and croplands or more human and animal waste. Since the chloride level did not increase, and chloride is evidence of human and animal waste in the water, I believe the runoff from fertilized lawns and crops caused the increase in phosphate. The higher levels of  E. Coli must be from stirred up sediment, not human and animal waste since the chloride level did not increase. (E. Coli gets trapped in sediment.) The river was really brown and turbid (not clear), so there was a high level of sediment in it.
     In the classroom, my students prefer one right answer. I like the ambiguity in a multiple data situation. I like to figure out what my particular set of data indicates. I like having to weed out what the reason probably is not, until only one possibility is left. I feel more confident that my conclusion is the correct one this way. I hope my students can learn to enjoy a question with many possible solutions and enjoy the hunt for the correct solution by eliminating possibilities as they continue to collect data.

July 25th- Question Week #6

Reflect on what the experience has meant to me, what will I take with me to the classroom, and how the experience could be made better.

     The experience has been great! I was leery of taking a summer job because teaching several different lab-based science classes at a small high school during the year keeps me at work late and most days requires me to do a couple of hours work at night. I am an outdoors person and really need an hour or two outside every day even in the winter and when I don't get that, it makes me crazy! So getting to go out to test at actual sites was not only great for allowing me to utilize my lab skills, but also because I got to be outside! I will be able to talk to my Chemistry classes about using their lab skills to solve real-world problems such as water quality issues. I can help students discover how they affect the quality of water and how that water quality affects them- a perfect example of an interaction we have with the environment.
    As far as how the experience could be made better, getting paid would be nice! I know we will get paid at some point, but that quickly became a problem for me. Budget cuts at the DNR  caused them to have a shortage of computers to use and when I used my school laptop, the hard-drive crashed. I had to share with another extern and then buy a netbook so we could both get work done.  I would like to see externs get the option of a computer to use if the business they are working with cannot provide them this. I think it would encourage more businesses to participate. I also had to buy some camping supplies for Project AWARE (athough people were very generous, letting me borrow some things). I don't mind having bought them, just paying credit card interest on them as I wait to get paid! I also think the unit lesson should be simplified a little. There were so many similiar things, I had trouble distinguishing the difference (essential questions, content questions...).
     Overall, my summer extern experience has been great. I got to learn new things, work outside and benefit the environment as well as get more ideas to implement in the classroom!

July 21st,2011

     Today we met Rose Danaher. She was water testing Price Creek which flows into the Iowa River. We met her in Amana. Price Creek is known to be an impaired stream with high levels of bacteria. A plan is in place to change this. The plan requires cooperation from the landowners in the region. Some ideas are fencing cattle so they don't go in the creek, updating septic systems, terracing fields, creating sediment basins, rotational grazing, and installing water stations above the creek so cattle don't need to enter the creek to get a drink. In one field nearby we saw terracing (I am including a picture of this), and in one part of Price Creek, they had successfully controlled erosion. Rip-rap (rocks and cement chunks) were added to the stream banks, a riffle (rocky area) was created in the stream to slow the water down, and after this riffle you could see the stream banks were not vertically eroded. (I am including pictures of this also). I liked seeing examples of controlling land erosion that were actually being used by farmers in the area. Students could see first-hand some good land use practices all being used in one area by local farmers. It brings the real world into the classroom. We read about such things but don't often get to see them.

     Later, we returned to check our IOWATER bacteria results and compare them to the bacteria tests done in the lab. For my location on the Wapsipinicon River, the lab test showed E.Coli at 10 per 100ml of water. Not safe for drinking but safe for recreation. The IOWATER test gave me 2 plates with zero for E.Coli bacteria and one with 100/100ml of water. That was similiar (and still safe for recreation). Mary recomended instead of diluting with 1ml of river water per 100 ml of water with the IOWATER test, I use 3 ml per 100 ml to get better results. My bacteria level was so low, I needed less dilution. Eric, on the other hand, had a lot more bacteria in his creek, so he needs to dilute more to make it easier to count. I am including pictures of both bacteria plates (the colonies are the spots), see if you can tell which is which location! The part I was interested in was how you could adjust dilution to get better readings. We often have to adjust a Chemical test for different circumstances. I may not adjust the test next time, let the students run it, analyze why the results are not decisive and let them figure out how to adjust the test. A little problem-solving/trouble-shooting excercise in the lab!

July 19th, 2011

     I went to water test today and it was HOT, HOT, HOT! On the beach it was already 94 degrees with no breeze at 9:30 a.m. The water was 87 degrees! It was cooler once you got out of the river bottom and there was a breeze, but it was still way too hot! I finally stopped sweating (by running the air conditioning nearly full blast in the car) and got the water sample back to the lab. This time we are running both the lab bacteria test and the IOWATER bacteria test to compare the results. Unless something is horribly wrong the tests should have similiar results.
     On Saturday I am attending the IOWATER Benthic Invertebrates workshop in Dubuque. I want to see if it's something our Biology teacher could use. We want to take the Chemistry students out to run Chemical tests on a body of water while the Biology students run bacteria tests and also look for living organisms in the water.  We are hoping they can work together pooling the results and looking for correlations between the Chemicals in the water and the living things in the water.
     Next week is my last official water testing week, but since I have registered my testing site I will still be monitoring it once a month starting in August  until the water freezes. I am enjoying watching how water characteristics change as water levels change. After a year of data, I will have a base-line of information to use to watch for unusual changes.
     One thing I am grateful for is that the heat did not start in earnest untilafter Project AWARE. I don't think it would have been nearly as enjoyable if it was this hot!

Question week 5

The question is How can my business (the DNR) be more involved in the classroom? What can I and my school do to engage students in the real world? What can the DNR do to engage students in their world?

     Many of my students are interested in the environment. Volunteer hours are a requirement for graduation, a requirement for National honor Society and many colleges look for them on their applications. So if my students were made aware of some of the volunteer opportunities through the Iowa DNR, I believe many would want to take advantage of them. For example, Project AWARE would be great for my high school students. Many of them like the outdoors and like to camp. Canoeing a river to clean it up allows them to be outside, camp, get dirty and wet playing in water, and to eat well and socialize at night. I would like to get the Iowa DNR to come to the school and promote these opportunities to the students. I have a few students and some parents that would be interested in monitoring a body of water near and dear to them (a farm pond or part of a stream that goes past their land) and are probably not aware that they can get kits and information to monitor the water through the IOWATER volunteer program after a day of training. Maybe the DNR could even conduct a workshop at the school one evening so students and parents who are interested could easily attend. Now that I know about these programs, I will also be able to share this information with interested students and parents.

     Our school also requires students to jobshadow in a career they are interested in before they graduate. I would like to see more students jobshadow at the DNR since it is a job many don't consider. I will be promoting it as a career choice to my seniors and juniors. I would also like to see Iowa DNR representatives come to my school to talk about what they do and possibly spark an interest in the DNR as a career.

    

Project AWARE from a newbie's view

   Project AWARE kicked off this last Saturday in Fayette county. AWARE stands for A Watershed Awareness River Expedition. People suggest a river they want to clean up and each year the DNR chooses one. This year, they chose the Turkey, Little Turkey and Volga rivers. For a week people camp and canoe the river picking up the garbage they find in it.
     Saturday, the volunteers started to arrive in Gouldsburg Park near Hawkeye. I rode the shuttle from Iowa City along with several other volunteers including my 14 year old niece. Once we got to the park, we unloaded our gear, and set up camp. My niece decided to take part in performing "The Lorax" while I attended the canoe skills and safety clinic conducted by Nate Hoogeveen of the Iowa DNR. About 8 of us learned some of the features of the Turkey river as well as how to safely steer a canoe around these features (good V's and bad V's and strainers). I was by far the least experienced and since I would be canoeing with my niece with no experience and no interest in gaining any, I was a little nervous. The Turkey river is clear and only knee-deep in many places with a nice rocky bottom so it was a pleasant river on which to learn how to canoe.
     Back to camp to eat supper which was catered in for us. For a mere $8.00, I got a steak, a baked potatoe, corn and a piece of pie. Great compensation for the rigors of canoe practice! We washed our dishes and then Brian Soenen had us all introduce ourselves and relate our experiences on AWARE. I was relieved to find there were many first-timers. Then off to socialize and eventually sleep with breakfast (catered in again) at 7:00!
     The next day was cloudy and muggy. After a good breakfast, we carried our gear down to the canoes that the DNR had ready to go at the side of the river. The Adventure begins! I soon found out that finding garbage was not as easy as it sounds. Most of it was half-buried in the bed of the river. At first we mainly found cans. We helped other canoers with trash caught in trees on the river banks. Many people found old tires in the river bed. I also saw 2 old chest freezers being loaded onto canoes and some rolls of fencing. There was a lot of old car parts and miscellaneous metal pieces. At the half-way point, we got to unload our junk and get a snack. When we stopped for lunch (provided for us to take along), we were joined by many other volunteers. The comraderie and general good humour of the other volunteers really made the trip enjoyable. Noone was upset when we ran our canoe into theirs (this happened a lot). It rained lightly on us in the morning, then the sun came out to bake us, but at the end of the 12.6 miles, the DNR unloaded our garbage and loaded our canoes and all we had to do was ride back to camp (and a much-needed shower) in air-conditioned comfort.
     Supper was excellent (chicken, cheesy mashed potatoes, green beans and chocolate mousse), then there were new volunteers to be introduced. We had our choice of 2 programs to attend, "Floating through History" by Larry Stone or "Totally Turtles of Iowa" by Danny Weiss. My neice and I attended "Totally Turtles". We got to see 2 kinds of soft-shelled turtles, a painted turtle and a snapping turtle. We learned a lot of interesting facts about turtles including that the temperature of the soil the turtle eggs are incubated in determines whether the turtle is a male or female.
     Our trip was cut short by my nieces allergies (who knew a scant 2 hour drive would transport us from the rain forest-like climate of Iowa City to the semi-arid desert of Fayette county?). However we both enjoyed the time we had. We loved the food, the programs and especially the wonderful, kind, helpful people we met.

July 11th

     How do I see my experience at the DNR changing my classroom in terms of what and how I teach? Well, I teach chemistry and so often we view chemistry as a way to alter our environment to better suit us. Through the DNR this summer, I have seen chemistry used to measure the health of our environment through the use of such things as the IOWATER test kits.
     In my classroom, I frequently talk about the use of chemistry to monitor the quality of products produced in industry, or the the development of a drug to treat a disease. I don't often think about using chemistry to test for changes in the environment so we can monitor the impacts human activity has on it and hopefully lessen our impact on it. But that is exactly what the DNR is doing with the IOWATER volunteers who test different bodies of water and post and share the results.
     My students will know something has changed because I will be able to bring my first-hand experiences working with the DNR into my conversations about how chemistry is an important part of their everyday lives. Up until now I only had second-hand accounts from engineers and researchers about what they did to share with my students. My first-hand experiences will be more knowledgable and credible and hopefully more interesting!

Week #3 Question

     The connections I see between my externship and science essential skills is almost patently obvious. We are using the IOWATER tests and a lab bacteria test to test the water samples from various places, so we are conducting scientific inquiry. I am curious about how water is affected by different human activities and testing the water and observing the land and water uses in that area, I can see the connection between how we use the land and water and what happens chemically to the water as a result. I am also expecting to eventually note seasonal changes. For example, as we move into the late summer, less fertilizer will be used and how will that affect the chemicals in the water? How does harvesting crops affect the water? How do temperature changes and shorter days affect the water? Is my hypothesis correct? Will I need to change it? Can I support my hypothesis with the data I gather? Will I need more information and research?

     As far as 21st century skills goes, any kind of technical lab skills are a helpful in a science field. Technology-wise, the interactive IOWATER atlas is an interesting and informative tool to learn how to navigate. Learning about the world around them and how the students affect it is also important, so students can see the interconnectivity they have to everyone around them.

     As far as the 5 characteristics of effective instruction, relevance is clearly being taught. Students can directly see the impact they have on their environment from the food they eat, to their recreational activities, to their water consumption. With the IOWATER test kit, students can choose what water they are concerned about and make their own conclusions about it (student-centered classrooms). Teaching for understanding is also an important part of reading and understanding the test results.

     I believe the IOWATER test kits can be a very useful tool in a classroom interested in covering many of the Iowa Core topics with one assignment or set of activites.

July 6th, 2011

I went out and monitored my site yesterday. The data was almost identical, except this time I do have a valid bacteria test to view this afternoon for the first time. It was HOT on that beach. Standing in the water did not even help much. We have been spending the day getting ready for Project AWARE (the river cleanup and canoe trip) that starts Saturday. I am seriously considering getting a fan for the tent (battery-operated). The humidity and heat have been relentless. Well, better go read that test!

7/1/11

     Since everyone seems to be posting their answers to questions in their post, I will add mine. The concerns I had at the beginning of my externship were what exactly I was expected to do. I spent most of the first week getting familiar with DNR staff, the lab facility and lab test techniques, and what DNR staff do at the Coralville site. At the end of the first week, Jackie gave us a rough schedule for the next 5 weeks (with input from us) and now I know every day what I need to do.

     Jackie's concerns centered around how much skill we already possessed for the lab work and how willing we would be to go out to do field work. She has seen us perform the testing and is no longer worried about that. We also are planning on attending Project AWARE, a weeklong canoeing and cleaup trip (this year on the Turkey, Little Turkey and Volga rivers from June 9th through the 16th.), to help so she knows we are willing to work outdoors on projects!