okay, so you know how ive been talking about macro-bugs, water cycle, and temperature? well,all that data was to determine how our chimacum creek is doing. Here is a list of our parameters (jobs)results grading from a scale of really bad, bad,fine, good, really good, exellent, almost perfect, and perfect.

D.O(dissolved oxygen)-8.215 mg/L, pretty good.

pH(posotive hydrogen)-6, almost perfect.

turbidity(how clear the water is)-44.7 NTU, exellent.

Nitrates(a chemical in the air that is a food for algae)-0.3 mg/L, almost perfect.

Amommonium(a very unwanted toxic gas)-1.6 mg/L, fine.

Flow rate(self-explanatory)1972.83 gal/s,good

temperature(everyone should know what temperature is)37 (F),really good

here is a picture of the thing I used to measure temperature (my parameter). its called a lab quest.

now that the parameters are covered, lets talk about the macro-invertebrates.our creek got a pretty good score, it was about 21. there were lots of non-tolerant pollution bugs, which means there was not alot of pollution.

Salmon:they are very non-tolerant to pollution, and they are very sensitive.Can salmon survive in our creek? yes. that is yet another reason that shows that our creek has little pollution.The salmon seem to be perfectly fine. (exept for that spawner we found dying, but salmon die after laying eggs).

So, you may have been asking yourself this: how is chimacum creek doing? Well, from all the data it is.....................................................(suspense)........................................almost perfect! it has salmon, non-teolerant pollution bugs, and all the parameters are good -almost perfect! Our creek is doing good, and i hope it always will. if you want to help save our creek, do not throw stuff in it, do not throw heated pads in  it, and do not feed the animals. (and please stop spitting into it)

this is the route we took to the creek and back from our school. it was a 9min. round-trip

the top graph is in farenhight, the bottom is in celsius.

You can enter the text of your blog here!

What is the parameter?-  tempuature (temp), is how much heat or thermal energy is in something, which makes it hot or cold. tempurature is also what the speed of the particles in something is. the faster, the hotter. warm water has less oxygen than cool water. dark water is usually warmer, since black traps warmth. deeper water takes longer to heat up, and when people dump something hot into the water the water gets hotter. temp. is one of the several things that determine if salmon can live in water.

How does it affect water quality?-fish eggs and aquatic plants can only be in waters that are the perfect temp. only bacteria have been found in boiling waters. Also, warmer waters have been found to sustain less life than colder waters in some areas. temperature governs what aquatic life can live in water. more chemical reactions happen at higher temperatures, too.

how is it measured? what levels are good? what levels are acceptable? what levels are bad?- temp. is measured in celsius and ferenhight. It is measured with the vernier probe, as well with other gadgets and gizmos, including the thermoneter. here are some salmon temp.'s.

Atlantic salmon limit: 75(f) 23(c). too cold: 41(f) 5(c)

Carp salmon: cold 70(f) 21(c). limit: 97(f) 36(c). perfect: 90(f) 32 (c)

Large mouth bass: cold: 70(f) 21 (c). limit:93(f) 34(c). perfect: 74(f) 23.5(c)

these measurments of the limits of the fish are not very accurate beacuse when fish are tested they are in a controlled room with no predators, and stress can kill them.

How does this affect fish? how does this parameter affect humans? how does this parameter affect vegetation?-if it is too hot then the eggs will not hatch, and if it is too cold the eggs will freeze. The temp. of the earth has too be just perfect for there to be humans, but humans can adapt to different climates, such as the desert. but most fish temp. limits vary. plants can live in water and on land, so of course their temp. limits vary. but plants like seaweed have need better temp. ranges than plants like grass.

  What is biological integrity?

supporting and maintaining a balanced community of organisms

What are indacator species?

groups of biological resources that can be used to tell if water is being polluted

how are macro invertabrets good indicator species?

because most of the bugs are VERY sensetive to pollution and tempurture changes, which make them ideal for pollution testing.

why are salmon and trout bad indacator species?

because they are tolerant to pollution.

the salmon life cycle is a very complicated life cycle. the adults return back to where they were born, and the scientists still dont know how they do it.

Salmon eggs(ova)

the salmon ova hatch in about 3 months. salmon eggs are are laid in gravel nests called redds made by the female(see adult spawner).the eggs are a orangish pink color and about the size of a pencil eraser.if you look at it, you can see the salmon eyes and oragens developing in the ova.

Threats:

disturbance of gravel

invasive species

predetation

high water tempurtures

freezing

suffocation(if the egg is buried)

pollution

flooding

disease

Humans(dams,waste.etc.)

salmon alevin

when the baby salmon (alevin) hatches,it has a yolk sac that it feeds off of for about a month. it will hide in gravel until its yolk sac is used up. the alevin cannot swim well because of the yolk sac.

diet:

nutrients from yolk sac

threats:

predators

pollutiuon

floods

humans(dams,waste,etc.)

fry

once the yolk sac is used up, the alevin (now called fry) begins to join or start a school.they now feed in rivers and stay in fresh water for 3 years or more (some salmon stay in fresh water their whole lives!) they also grow parr marks on their backs.

diet:

zooplankton

(once colder) aquatic insects

threats:

pollution

predators

invasive species

humans(dams,waste,etc.)

parr

basicaly a bigger version of a fry, the parr is six inches long. they feed 1-3 years before their ready to go out to the ocean.

Diet:

(once colder) aquatic insects

zooplankton

threats:

pollution

habitat problems

invasive secies

humans (dams,waste,etc.)

Smolt

at this juvenile stage, the smolt lose their parr marks. they turn silvery in color. their bodies get adjusted to saltwater. they will then venture out to sea, where many challenges await.

diet:

insects(including larva),

aquatic invertebrates,

smaller smolt,

crusteaceans

small fish

Threats:

pollution

disease

invasive species

humans (dams, wase,etc.)

ocean conditions

storm water

runoff

pumps

climate

Adult

they spend 1 to 4  years eating and living in the sea. once a adult, each specie of salmon develope a different marking. After swimming 2000 miles through the pacific ocean, they return to their birth place to spawn.

Diet:

zoo plankton

smaller fish

krill

invertebrates

Threats:

disase

pollution

invasive species

humans (dams,waste,fishing,etc.)

ocean conditions

storm water

climate change

Adult spawner

once upon reaching the river where they were born, they readapt to fresh water. They cease to feed,  and live on fat in their bodies. The female then creates a Redd, or a nest, by sweeping her tail back and forth. She lays the eggs in the redd, and the male protects them until the female and the male die within a couple of weeks, leaving the embryos to fend for themselves.

diet:

nothing (they dont eat)

threats :

same

the water cycle is not all that complex. the water cycle never ends either. some people think the water cycle is just the simple precipitation, evaporation, and condensation. but, there is also transperation, penetration(where the water enters the mountain), runoff,and groundwater. oh, and i almost forgot accumulation.

1.what fraction of the earth is coverd in water?

2.what percentage of the earth is coverd in drinkable water?

3.why is evaporated water so clean?

the water cycle quiz, answer as best as you can!!  tell your answers in a comment, and i might tell you if your right if i get the time.

1.  what comes first? A.evaporation B. condensation C.percipitation

2. is it true that some water we drink today was around when there were dinosaurs? true or false?

3.which does not belong? A.rain B.hail C. snow D.sunshine

4.how does water turn into water vapour? A.sunshine B. more water

5.which is NOT part of the water cycle?A.precipitation B. condensation C. evaporation D. leaf F. trick question

CLOUD

CYCLE

EVAPORATION

POND

PRECIPITATION

RIVER

TRANSPERATION

WATER

__ __ __ __ __   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ ,   __ __ __ __   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ ,   



__ __ __ __   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ ,   __ __ __ __   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ . 

T R I O N T H E N P R E C I P I O T A T I O N T H E N T R A 

N S E P E R A T I O N X R Y D Q I Y U P F P G O S G Z K D B 

M I M C D H G D I L L M N L H X T R Y B V P K F C T G X R I 

W O O L I M X V X Q F B Y J Q C A H I Z R O M T X U Q D H E 

W Q T I D P S D O P N S S G K E R G B Y D Y P W Y A B N D E 

Q C T Q L D I Q E O M I H R B P O R K K D O M J E X H P Q N 

S U C D X J F T M N X F C W H V P A S Y Q S R G M I T M N C 

U M K D D N J H A D Q J B Q T W A E T E J Q S J S Y Y Q L Q 

N E B F U T T F X T F F N C N W V Y U Y H Z E N Q A Y S U P 

I L I A H F A B F R I J E L D P E W N S S D G L Z G J T L D 

F C Y T H V A E U C I O C S L L Q L I I L C Q D D U O S R R 

J U A C R C Y Y S O G G N C N V D V M A V F C E N V L S K B 

F C F Y F A P R D C Q O K M C V D C F W C J G G O G D Q S A 

H W D U B I N Q Y A R J U Q P D R K F A I V B D E C E R H N 

D O L I U T D S V Z V L O Z H Y Q I W N D C R Y T D O Q W K 

V U T V V C Q M P E J G U G M A D J V A F C C F Y C M A W M 

C F O O D O X I L E Z Z L H Y P G H C A Q D O U A J C W C I 

Y L H L I L O E D Q R H J S A C H B V J S N K D E D U J Q N 

P E Q Q C I I W M A L A I V J I C K C Z S A K H R T H G Y S 

I T X O A M A S O Z X X T A A U D O S X L B A R K R F O S X 

C I E I O T T P I F L F Y I F Y F J S I R I C Q N V W W W H 

J Z R Q E H N M A U C P L N O H H U H U N D M W Q F K W L G 

A H T R W V U P C N G O M W X N A A M J U Q D C R Y U U C P 

F O V K V X V Y S M M H T C L F V V V V R B Z D T W B O W Q 

X Z V G K L C V O C X E K E F T G X G G F I Z K V V L G Y R 

N O R S A L M X H V Z C B P M D M Y Z M G L V C N H J P G O 

K D D S E O A J K P S B H L B Z A X Z N P U Q E T X G I T R 

Z I J I K D D P G W G V G C B Z I P S Q M W C K R V C U J W 

L S B X L N J Y S S Q Y O D M A S Z M N P C W M P P A G Y V 

this is a mayfly larva. its intolerant to pollution, which means it will die to the slightest raise of temperture or pollution levels. its on a water droplet!

The next two pictures are stonefly larva!

this is a picture of a horsefly larva. it is tolerant to pollution. it is hard to see, but if you look closely you can see a worm.

this is a cadisfly. it is VERY intolerant to pollution.

this is are our  scoring sheet for testing chimucum creeks water quality. for every bug we found in the highly intolerant cattegory,we scored four points. for every intolerant bug, 3 points. for tolerant bugs, 2 points. for every highly tolerant, 1 point.alltogether, we got 21.but, when we went to a camp with all the other six graders, there was a creek called Yellowjacket creek. but, it was a lot more clear, and it got a score of 25. How can it be in the same range? it is because dark does NOT always mean dirty.chimucum creek is just as healthy.even though yellow jaket creek had a score of 25, thats only one more highly intolerant bug.