In Loving Memory of the late Turkey Duck of Western Pond (draft 1)

This topic submitted by Becky Singson, Noelle Kujanek, Audrey MacWood, Karen Schoenfeld ( singsora@muohio.edu ) on 2/14/03. [ Rivers Team: Becky Singson, Noelle Kujanek, Audrey MacWood, Karen Schoenfeld-Section: Cummins/Kaufman]

Our project will consist of taking an interdisciplinary approach to look at the Western Pond. The goal is to create a way to introduce the many facets of the Pond to a child. We will look at the pond through three different lenses. The first will be from a natural systems perspective. This will include assessing the overall health of the pond by attempting to evaluate the biodiversity of the pond. We will look at changes in the pond over time. Some of these changes are due to human influences on the pond, which leads into the social systems scope of this project. We will examine how the pond was used in the past versus how it is used now. We will also look at what is done to maintain the integrity of the pond by Miami University. Finally, the end goal of this project is to develop a way to present this information to a child, with will make up the creativity and culture lens of this project. We will be making a childrenÕs book at the end of this research, which will show how to present the life of this pond to a developing mind. This project plays into the Rivers course because it looks at a simple watershed, but seeks to show that appearances can be deceiving. We will show that this simple pond holds a lot more than initially appears.

When looking through the natural systems lens for the project, first we will look at the chemical makeup of the pond. We will study the nitrate, phosphate, dissolved oxygen, and pH levels of the pond. Through our research, we learned that the Physical Facilities department of Miami University checks the pH levels in the pond periodically. We will look into finding records of the tests that the Physical Facilities department has done. We will also do our own testing, using the pH meter. The pH levels will tell us whether or not the pond is acidic or basic and to what degree. We will take samples of the pond water weekly, and test them for nitrate and phosphate levels in Boyd Hall using the water testing kits that are available. Nitrate is essential in stimulating plant growth; therefore looking at the amounts of nitrogen in the pond will give us insight into the health of the pondÕs fauna. Phosphate measures are very similar to nitrogen measures. Phosphates are nutrients that are required for plant growth in an aquatic system. Finally, dissolved oxygen will be measured to determine the amounts of oxygen present in the water. Dissolved oxygen is important becaue varying amounts determine whether or not certain species of aquatic animal life is able to live in the ecosystem.

Another important thing we will attempt to do is document the different life forms that live near and around this pond. This can be done through simple observation, talking to the people who maintain this pond to see if they have documentation of the different species living there, and if necessary, using the fish zapper to determine the different species of fish. We would assume that because the pond is man-made, meaning that the fish that inhabit it were put in there, there will not be very many different species. We would like to look at a sedimentary model for the pond. A sedimentary model is basically a prediction of sediment amounts for the future, based on the past changes in the pond. We would like to look at past records of the dredging of pond that happens every year, and see what sort of predictions were made in the past and how accurate they were.

When looking through the social systems core, we will mostly be examining the history of the pond. We will be looking through the Western archives to see how the pond was used in the past. Clearly, today, there is not much activity going on around the pond. We would like to find out if there are specific reasons for the lack of activity in the pond or if it is simply that no one has an interest in the pond anymore. We found from looking through some of our sources that the pond was at one time used for many recreational activities. Now it is simply an inactive water system, and we would like to figure out whether or not there are reasons for this. We have many questions that require investigational research in find out, such as were there any important events in the history of Western that happened in, on, or around Western Pond. We will conduct this investigational research by talking with people from the physical facilities department and looking extensively through the Western archives.

Finally, the creativity and culture scope of this project provides the culmination of the project. We would like to finish this project by writing a childrenÕs book, based on a narrative as told by the infamous "Turkey Duck" that once inhabited Western Pond (another investigational question that we would like to look at is what species of fowl this infamous Turkey Duck really was). This book will consist of a lot of photography, which we will obtain either by taking pictures ourselves or using old documents found in the archives. The Turkey Duck will be the main character of this story, and his cartoon image will be superimposed on all of the pictures. The book will incorporate the history of the pond, and also will talk about the physical makeup of the pond. If possible, there will be an underlying story line resembling the civil rights movement, involving the oppression of the swans on the Turkey Duck. The book will be created on a computer using programs such as Adobe PhotoShop to manipulate the images, and then the story will be brought together both in print, and in the form of a PowerPoint presentation.

This project should flow smoothly seeing as how we all work well very well together, and have previously done projects together. The four of us are each interested in a different discipline for this project. Audrey works well with scientific information and research, which will help with our actual measurements from the pond. Noelle and Karen are quite interested in the History of Western and its affects on the pond. Their enthusiasm will contribute a lot to the project. Becky's skills will bring the entire project together by making this into a childrenÕs book as seen through the eyes of the Turkey Duck. Of course we will all be contributing to this part as it is a significant step in finalizing the project, but Becky has the most knowledge in this area.

This project should synthesize research methodology, scientific experimentation, creativity, and imagination. This will all be apparent in the end goal, a childrenÕs book based on Western Pond. By looking at the pond through each of the different scopes (natural systems, social systems, and creativity and culture), and then adjusting each of these different scopes so that they can be perceived by a child will be fun, but also a challenge all at the same time.

Timeline:
Week one Ð research archives, test water
Week two Ð research archives, test water
Week three Ð research archives, test water, turn in progress report
Week four Ð test water, compile information
Week five Ð test water, turn in progress report, take photos of pond, begin writing book
Week six Ð test water, take photos of pond, begin to finalize book
Week seven ÐSubmit Final Report

Annotated Bibliography of Sources:
http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/Research/NaturalSystemsArticles/FINAL.SedimentaryBudgetAnA.html
FINAL: Sedimentary Budget Analysis
Amanda Rush, Mark Mussman, Zach Humes, Samuel Tim Nance, Drew Dawson
12/12/97
This report will help us to define sedimentary budget analysis and give us a spring board to look further into the sedimentary model of Western Pond.

http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/Research/NaturalSystemsArticles/Final.Waterevaporationatt.html
Water evaporation at the Western Duck Pond
Toya Williams, Erin Hixon, Amber Capasso on 10/22/97
This article gives us further information specific to Western Pond.

Western College Alumnae Association, Inc. A Time to remember [video recording] : the story of Western College. Oxford, OH: The Association. 1986.
This film gives a concise history of Western College for Women. It explains how the college was started and the general historical points of the college before it was taken over by Miami University in the 70Õs. It will be useful because in a childrenÕs book we canÕt go into a lot of detail about the history of Western College. This film gives us a nice, brief overview of the history Western College that we can use to frame our own story.

Nelson, Narka. The Western College for Women. Oxford, Ohio : Western College, 1967, 2nd ed.
While we cannot go into a lot of depth about the overall history of Western College for Women, a book with a little more detail can help us with specific information about Western Pond and its uses during that time. This book mentions the pond several times, mostly as a source of recreation. It will be a good source for information about the pond and what it was, how it has changed.

Western roundup [microform]. Oxford, Ohio : Western College for Women, 1931-1970.
This source can be used also to inquire about how the pond has changed through the years and since the Western College for Women became part of Miami University. Although we are not sure if there are any articles pertaining directly to the pond, there are definitely articles which discuss the changes in "western culture".

National Geographic Society. The book of birds, the first work presenting in full color all the major species of the United States and Canada, edited by Gilbert Grosvenor, and Alexander Wetmore, with 950 color portraits by Major Allan Brooks. Washington, D. C., National Geographic Society: 1937.
This book has photographs of every major species of bird in the United States, including wild fowl. We have had a lot of trouble tracking down exactly what a turkey duck is. This book can help us decipher whether or not this animal actually exists, and if it does not, what it is.

Okey, Brian. Agricultural intensification and landscape pattern in the Upper Four Mile Creek Watershed, Preble County, Ohio. Oxford, OH. 1992.
This book might help us to make assumptions about the chemical makeup of the Western Pond, being a tributary of the Four Mile Creek. We can infer whether or not we believe that changes in agriculture have changed the chemical makeup of the pond, and other similar inferences about human perturbation.

Diaz, Sandra. "The pond-life is telling us something". Trends in Ecology and Evolution. Volume: 17, Issue: 9, September 1, 2002. pp. 405.
This article goes into a lot of depth about pond ecology and the most important parts of pond ecology, including biodiversity, primary productivity, landscape, plant diversity and chemistry.

Ashley, Michael C. "DIPTERAN STANDING STOCK BIOMASS AND EFFECTS OF AQUATIC BIRD PREDATION AT A CONSTRUCTED WETLAND". Wetlands. Volume: 20, Issue: 1, March 1, 2000. pp. 084-090.
This article goes into a little bit too much detail about birds in wetlands, but it will help us to understand the true "day in the life of a turkey duck".
Sorenson, Lisa G. "Potential Effects of Global Warming on Waterfowl Populations Breeding in the Northern Great Plains". Climatic Change. Volume: 40, Issue: 2, October 1998. pp. 343-369.
The Prairie Pothole Region of the Northern Great Plains is the most important breeding area for waterfowl in North America. This article looks at factors that influence their lives and the biodiversity of wildlife in pond ecosystems. Once again, we donÕt need to go into this detail about waterfowl, but it will help to see the important factors that affected the turkey duckÕs life.

Barrett, Katharine and Carolyn Willard. Aquatic habitats: exploring desktop ponds: teacher's guide
Berkeley, CA: Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California at Berkeley, c1998
Chicago: Society for Visual Education, 1973
This book is about pond wildlife and ecology. When we begin our scientific research of the pond, this book will be of help in understanding what we are studying and how to understand what the results of our research mean.

Bronmark, Christer and Lars-Anders Hansson. The Biology of Lakes and Ponds (Biology of Habitats). Oxford University Press; ; (December 1998)
The book talks about the biology and ecology of lakes and ponds. When we study the pond, this book will help us in understanding what the habitat is like in the lake and exactly what we are studying.

Burton, Robert, (1941). Ponds: Their Wildlife and Upkeep. North Pomfret, VT. : David & Charles. 1977.
This book deals with the ecology of ponds which will aid us in our research of the pond.

Dragonfly

We are planning on using the site Dragonfly as an aide in writing our childrenÕs book. DragonflyÕs targeted audience is elementary to early middle-school aged children, the same audience we want to have for our book. Through dragonfly we will be able to insure that the information we have in our childrenÕs book is expressed in a clear and concise manner.

Fleming, Denise. In The Small, Small Pond. New York, NY: H. Holt. 1993.
This book is a childrenÕs book focusing on introducing the child to nature. We will use this book as a basis and reference to our own childrenÕs book.

Greenaway, Frank. Look Closer: Pond Life. DK Publishing; ; (May 1992)
This book is also a childrenÕs book and holds many pictures. This book will help us in the layout of our and how we wish to present our book to the children.

Josephs, David. Lakes, Ponds, and Temporary Pools (Exploring Ecosystems). Franklin Watts, Incorporated; ; (March 2001)
This book covers the animal and plant life in and surrounding the pond. This will aid us in our study of the pond.

Reid, George K, et al. Pond life; a guide to common plants and animals of North American ponds and lakes
New York, Golden Press c1967
"A handbook describing and illustrating some of the common animals and plants found in or near ponds, lakes, streams, and marshes." This book will help us when we begin the scientific aspect of our research. We will be looking for the wildlife and plants that live in Western Pond and this book will help us in identifying some the creatures.

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