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11/09/01
Student
Biologists Help Find Original Data Of Red River
Through a hands-on activity, students enrolled in Mrs. Carlson's Biology 10 class are learning about the ecosystem of a river. The Barnesville High School sophomores are helping River Keepers with the FM River project. Both sections of the science class are utilizing their knowledge to identify "critters" collected from the Red River of the North. Their assistance in the FM River project is an integral part of the original baseline data used to determine the health of this water supply. FM River
is a project designed to establish a long term river monitoring record.
The biotic index being established will indicate how the health of the
Red River is changing over time. The ultimate goal of FM River is to sustain
or improve the Red River's ecosystem health and conditions for human use.
This is being achieved by:
Christine Holland, project coordinator for River Keepers, came to talk with the BHS sophomore biology class. She told them why the project was being done and the importance of the information being collected. Holland said, "when people find out there are bugs in the river, their first reaction is 'gross'. But actually," she said, "this is okay." River monitoring is a way of gathering information about the health of a river by observing, collecting and analyzing characteristics information. Monitoring can be as simple as preparing a detailed visual survey of the river or as complex as collecting and analyzing numerous chemical, physical and biological data. Macro invertebrates, little bugs, are being collected and counted twice per year, once in the spring and once in the fall, at three different sites along the Red River. There is a site located south of Fargo, one in the middle of the city, and another north of the city limits. She brought an example of a Hester dendy and a dredge, tools used to collect the critters. In addition, there were several jars filled with various river critters. Holland said the Red River is being analyzed chemically every two weeks at same three different sites. Samples are being tested for temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, conductivity, total dissolved solids, ammonia, pH, total phosphorus, nitrate, transparency, turbidity and fecal coliforms. Holland told the students it is hoped that River Keepers will be able to gather similar collections from the many tributaries flowing into the Red River. Carlson reminded the students Whiskey Creek, which flows through Barnesville, is one of the Red's water sources.
Working in groups of two or three, the students will examine the macro invertebrates with the naked eye and scrutinize them more closely under a microscope. Using a chart as a reference, the students will be able to correctly identify the critters. The chart tells if the specimen can survive in contaminated water, non-contaminated or in-between. All of this information is helpful in determining the health of the Red River. Using the information from the original collection jar, students will then prepare a new label and adhered it to a vile containing all the species of one order. Label information will include the name of the river and site location, the type of tool used to collect the sample, the collection date and the order. Holland and Carlson forewarned the students to be careful when handling the critters. It is important not to damage the macro invertebrates. Proper identification of the critters will be a slow, careful process. The young biologists were reminded that accurate baseline data is imperative so that a better understanding of what will happen to the river can be predicted in the future.
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