Swimming The Local Water Shed

On the morning of Friday September, 25th after a long assembly our D block class piled into the crowded Proctor mini bus and headed off for our first field trip of the year. Alan was taking our class to "swim the watershed." We had not been on the mini bus for long before we had come to our first of three stops belonging to the Merimack Valley watershed. (Or as we know it to a smaller scale, the Blackwater River.) We pulled into a dirt road and pulled of onto a parking area along side the northern rail trail. Besid the bus was a narrow dirt trail belonging to Proctor that we entered to find an open area along side the Blackwater river where our class gathered and joined to talk about where we were and why we were here. Alan began to slowly walk into the cool water and invited the class to join. It was a cooler day but the sun was still shining through the trees canopy but the section of river was still somewhat shaded. The slow moving, dark water was not very inviting on a cool fall day but I decided to interact and go in for myself.

Once time was spent learning the use of the equipment we had brought along with us we were able to start gathering samples of water to test the Air Temperature, water temperature, PH, dissolved oxygen  and the Turbidity.

Air Temperature: 13.8*C
Water Temperature: 13.9*C
PH: 7, Neutral
Dissolved Oxygen: 7mg/L
Turbidity: 0


We then had a conversation about the contaminants in the river, what can live there (Such as the Stonefly Nymph we caught) and also what variables can change the rivers depth, Temperature, PH and Turbidity.

While making our way back to the mini bus Alan let us in on a little secret as to why its called Blackwater. "It's because of all of the black algae that thrives in the river." Shhhhh.

We next headed North East to the corner of Andover towards Eagle Pond. While following Route 11 we concluded the river follows the road. Well actually it the other way around saying that the glacier carved this landscape before we could even imagine roads. We were instructed by Alan while traveling up stream on Route 11 to think about the ABC DEE's of our first stop on the water shed. A, which stands for abiotic, or non-living things. B, for biotic, or living organisms. C, for cycles. D, for diversity. E, for energy. The last E, for evolution. 








After another short drive we had found ourselves parked along another river, a tributary to Blackwater from Eagle Pond. As a class we were eager to see what awaited us along the banks while some of us continued straight into the water with our bathing suits on. Because of the time spent at our first stop we were not able to stay long, but long enough to encounter some life in this part of the river that we had not seen previously and to take some more measurements.

Here is the life we encountered along with some grass growing in the water.

Mr. Frog

The Mussel

The readings we got from the measurements were similar to that as the first stop. But in addition to the similar readings we had noticed that we were up steam from a bridge that crosses over the river and we began to think. "Our readings could have been different on the down stream side of that bridge because of all of the car oils, antifreeze etc.

Here are our results.

Air Temperature: 15.1*C

Water Temperature: 16.8*C

PH: 7, Neutral

Turbidity: 0

Due to time constraints on lunch we packed up quickly and loaded the mini bus for our journey to the final destination up stream, Pleasant Lake (The resource of the Blackwater river)

And we made it, Pleasant Lake

Here at pleasant lake we were greater with lots of clouds but noticeably the warmest water of all of our stops. Alan simply said, "Look around, we are surrounded and we are in the bottom of this bowl here. Wont things end up collecting in this one body of water then make its way down stream?" I thought to myself yes, the fertilizers for lawns, boat exhaust and oil, people and pets will all find there way into this body of water and cause problems down stream at some point. 

Again because we needed to make it back to lunch in time we took quick measurements and then were back on our way to campus for E block. 

Our results turned out like this. 

Air Temperature: 15*C

Water Temperature: 20.5*C

PH: 7-8, A little above Neutral (More than down stream)

Turbidity: 0

Conclusion: 

This is what Proctor Academy is all about. Experiential learning. I enjoyed the field trip and traveling to the different areas of our local watershed to understand more about our surroundings and resources. Also how everything is so closely connected in nature and that one small thing could lead to a big problem further on down stream and in the future. Growing up as a day student in the area I never understood the process of our local river but now I am able to say that I have learned some valuable points about the living environments around our everyday lives.