Grovetown School Student Scientists
The children in Waihi class at Grovetown School have been investigating the health of the creek that runs alongside their school.
After the Grovetown School students first visit to observe the creek they felt pretty confident that it wasn’t in a very good state. But the children wanted some facts to back up what they saw.
The children named the weed on top of the creek Frog Porridge.
Using the Enviroschools Stream Study Kit they measured the flow, temperature, and clarity of the water, before identifying the creatures that live in the creek. Unfortunately the only creatures they found were small snails. All their tests of the creek failed to meet healthy standards.
Disappointed but not surprised, the students took a sample of w
ater back to their classroom to display with the rest of their findings. The students returned to school the next day to find a surprise. The silt that was making the water murky had settled at the bottom of the jar.
This created lots of wonderings and set them on another path to test if the water was actually healthy after all. They wanted to find out if it was drinkable.
After some research, the students decided to test the pH of the water to find out if it was safe to drink. Unfortunately it was below 7, the pH level that indicated it was ok to drink. They added more “wonderings” to their list. They asked themselves what would happen if they could take the mud and silt out of the water. Would that change the pH? How could they take the mud and silt out?
They came up with the idea of filtering the water. They then set about doing more research on how to build their own filter system. Using recycled plastic bottles they set up three different filters. Using paper towels, sand and rocks they made the first group of filters. For the second group of filters, tissues, sand and rocks were used. Lastly, layers of cotton wool sand and rocks were placed in the third group of bottles to filter the creek water.
The results surprised the children once again – it was the paper towel filter that produced the clearest water. Their next steps are to test the pH of the filtered water. Then present their findings at the Marlborough Schools Science Fair. As you can imagine they are very excited to share what they have learnt with the rest of the community. Good luck at the Science Fair Waihi Class!