Teen TUGs-2007

Creek Survey Challange

Day 1: The TUG Team took water samples of Rock Creek and found that the pH level was much higher than had been expected. The pH level was 9. Other tests the team conducted included Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Phosphate and Nitrate. Assuming that the Dissolved Oxygen was greater at the rapids, the team ran three different DO tests to see if the DO level was more or less than along the bank of the creek. Test results were as follows:                                                                    DO:      Rapids:    8 ppm       North (upcreek) Side of Rapids: 6 ppm      East Bank: 2 ppm                                                                                                     TUG members determined that there was higher levels of DO in the rapid area because the water was constantly being aerated there. PHOSPHATE: 1 ppm Nitrate: 5 ppm Tempreture: 26 C A sample was incubated to check to see there was any coliform present in Rock Creek.

Sampling RC

Day 2: The team checked the coliform sample and found out that coliform was indeed present in Rock Creek creek. We believe this is because Rock Creek runs through many wild areas before it reaches Camp Shaw. The very nature of the creek leads us to believe that many animals use it, such as deer and raccoons. The team also went into the creek to see what animals lived near and in the creek. The place we entered the creek was a slow and wide spot where the creek bottom is mostly loose rock and some sand. We found hundreds of tiny to small crayfish and some fish fry. After collecting some, we looked at them under the microscope. Day 3: The team went for a long walk in Rock Creek. We entered upstream from Firefly Bluff and looked at the erosion on the bank down to where we entered the water on Day 2. We found that all of the places where the creek bed was a great distance from the tree line, there was a lot of erosion. At Firefly Bluff, we saw that all that was holding the bank together was the few Russian Olives growing near the top. Everything else had slid off the bank. After consideration, the team recommended that only top cutting, of the bushes, should be done until we could better stabilize the bank. After returning to the lab, the team conducted a couple of experiments: 1. The effects of bank planting vs. banks with out plantings 2. How soil samples can be separated to see the sizes of soil particles Day 4: Today started out chilly. It had rained most of the night when the last cold front came through and team were wondering how the day would shape up. Georgia played some games with the team including “the water drop” game. This game is played by trying to move a marble down a series of PVC “pipes with out dropping the marble. It sounds easy, but we have been trying to complete the course all week long. While we are getting further every day, we have yet to reach the bucket! We hiked to the spring before entering Rock Creek and decided to go upstream to see what we could find. The water wasn’t as cold as the team expected (78F) and it seemed like it would be a nice hike. The bottom of the creek was sandy with a little bit of gravel mixed in. The creek was wide and slow moving and the banks were not the steep drop offs we had experienced previously this week.