Year 8 - Water Rockets

Year 9 - Weir visit biotic & abiotic

Year 9 students visited the weir collected and recorded different sets of data including: water flow, water samples, turbidity, acidity, temperature, aquatic and terrestrial plants, fungi and animal organisms.

This is the work study they were given;

Aim: To study a local ecosystem.

Today you will be collecting and recording different sets of data including: water flow, water samples, turbidity, acidity, temperature, aquatic and terrestrial plants, fungi and animal organisms.

Collecting data

Acidity

Acidity is an important factor in water. Some organisms cannot sustain living in a high acidity conditions. Some can tolerate it to a certain degree. A high acidity tends to be a bad thing particularly if you are laying your eggs in water. We measure acidity by measuring its pH. Ideally the acidity of water should have a pH of 7 which is neutral. This does not always occur. Pollution is a large contributing factor to water pH levels. This might include litter (e.g. plastic bottles), soil running into the water during/ after the rain, high concentrations of carbon dioxide (especially in highly populated areas) and other factors. This factors can result in lowered pH levels, which means that the water becomes highly acidic.

To measure the acidity in water:

• Take a water sample from the weir.

• Take the pH meter device and place it in the water sample.

• Record results in table below.

• Return water to the weir and repeat step 1-4 two more times.