EcoSpark works with communities and with schools, providing them
with the knowledge and tools to monitor their environment and
take action for positive environmental change.
Step 3: The Stream Study Field Trip
Teacher Area Menu
See the Stream Study Field Manual:
An EcoSpark staff member helps you and your students conduct a water quality assessment at your local stream or river. He or she makes sure that you have the equipment you need and you adhere to benthic macro-invertebrate monitoring protocols.
Your students collect the samples, sort the benthos (the bugs), and identify them. At the end of the day you have scientifically defensible data to take back to class.
The recommended length of a stream study field trip is half a day to a full day. The recommended group size is one class (or less) but accommodations can be made for larger groups (please contact changingcurrents@ecospark.ca).
You can study the stream or river of your choice. EcoSpark staff can also assist you in finding a stream near your school. See here for previous sites.
EcoSpark provides all of the equipment necessary including the following resources (which you will need to print and provide to your students):
- Data sheets which students use to record information about the stream and about the benthos they collect - these are important sheets
- Descriptive Identification Guides which students need to identify their benthos
- Identification Keys in the form of a tree diagram (organized by physical characteristics) which students need to identify their benthos
- Chemical Analysis Handouts which guide students through analysing the pH, dissolved oxygen level, temperature, and turbidity of the stream
With financial support provided by:
The Chawkers
Foundation
Foundation
