A Turkey Duck and His Home: A look at ponds and the life around them

This topic submitted by Becky Singson, Audrey MacWood, Noelle Kujanek, Karen Schoenfeld ( singsora@muohio.edu ) on 4/29/03. [ Rivers Team: Becky Singson, Audrey MacWood, Noelle Kujanek, Karen Schoenfeld-Section: Cummins/Kaufman]

Excutive Summary: The idea for this project stemmed from a desire to make science comprehendible for children. Becky decided that it would be a great idea to make a childrenÕs book, containing pictures of the pond and descriptions of the tests and information we gathered, but in terms that a child could understand. The book is from the point of view of the late turkey duck of the Western Pond.

The interdisciplinary roots in this project are very deep because they are very intertwined. The cultural aspect stems from the introduction of the science information to children. We wanted to determine what types of scientific concepts children from grades four through seven can grasp. We chose this age group because it is a critical point for learning about environmental issues. This is an age span in which these children are impacted the most by environmental ideas. We were surprised to find that children can comprehend scientific knowledge of greater difficulty than we expected. The social component consists of discussing the uses of the pond from the beginning of the Western College for Women, to the present.

The science discipline, naturally, consists of all the testing and scientific data. We tested algae, nitrate, phosphate, dissolved oxygen, and sediment. Being that the pond is man-made and highly impacted by humans, we hypothesize that all of these areas will be abnormal.
The algae told us about the health of the pond. We hypothesized that there would be a great deal of algae due to the fecal matter from the swans and the fertilization occurring in and around the pond. We tested this by taking small samples from the rocks in the pond and from three creeks that are included in the Four Mile Creek watershed. After drying these samples out, we weighed them and took a total measurement of the algae samples from each location, the results of which can be found in the book.

Nitrate is also tested to determine the health of the pond. Our hypothesis was that there would be larger amounts of nitrate in the middle of the pond than the amounts entering or leaving the pond. We tested nitrate in three different locations of the pond. We did this by taking water samples and testing them using the kit in Boyd hall.

For phosphate we hypothesized that the levels would be extremely high due to the high levels of human activity around the pond. We tested phosphate in the same manner that we tested the nitrate.

Our hypothesis for dissolved oxygen is that the amounts will rise and fall with the sun. To test this we used the dissolved oxygen meter. Sediment was tested by constructing sediment traps using 5 small containers, duct taped to rocks, and dropped in the pond. After one week the traps were removed and the sediment was dried and weighed.

The results of this interdisciplinary culmination are compiled into a beautiful children's book with many great pictures and useful information about assessing the pond. Please Visit Our Web Pages for a complete look at our Project

A one page Introduction to our project--Western Pond: An Interdisciplinary Look Followed by:

Our Web Book A Turkey Duck and His Home: A look at ponds and the life around them Enjoy!

Previous Article
Return to the Topic Menu