Year 8 trip to Chamberlains Ford

Last term we looked at studying Ecosystems looking specifically at Lake Ellesmere. We learned about water catchments, the ecosystem of a lake, the importance of water quality and what things we can do to minimise the impacts to our nearby waterways. 

Students learned about food chains, nitrogen and phosphate cycles, indicators of biodiversity in an ecosystem, eutrophication and stratification in lakes. Therefore as part of our Inquiry we decided to look at the water quality of the Selwyn River at Chamberlains Ford area to put our knowledge into practice. 

Students had great fun understanding how to measure:

-dissolved oxygen-phosphate and nitrate levels-turbidity in the water

But most of all the students had an opportunity to observe and identify macroinvertebrates present in the stream and how these can be an indicator of water quality in streams. 

I would like to make a special mention to Rochelle Ealam and Leanne O'Brien who were very happy to join us and demonstrate their skills in the field. 

Below are a few photos of the day!

Nga mihi nui

Mrs. Preston