Course Overview:  This basic ecology course examines a variety of freshwater ecosystems including energy flow, nutrient cycling, physical and chemical parameters, flora, and fauna. The management, maintenance, preservation, and pollution of aquatic systems are considered.  Previously, due to lack of resources,  minimal technology has been used to facilitate student engagement with real-time data acquisition using various probes and GPS units. With the added technology, students are now able to acquire real-time data and analyze it in the field rather than waiting to return to the lab to retrieve or process data.  With the integration of precise Geographic Positioning System (GPS) units along with Geographic Information System (GIS) software, students can more effectively layer and compare spatial data in the field, freeing them from a computer lab to work directly from the area they are studying. Students will gain a better spatial understanding of the environment and its processes. This will enhance the accuracy of information on existing maps and allow the students to connect to the information in more meaningful ways.

Students learn how to use GPS technology around campus:

There were 14 students in BIO216L (Aquatic Biology Laboratory). All students participated in two introductory sessions to learn how to use the equipment and how to download and manipulate the information collected. Probes and other accessories had been ordered which allowed the students to measure temperature, pH, conductivity, oxygen, turbidity and flow. The first session was an in-lab session at which Dr. Heid, the PI for the grant, introduced the students briefly to the grant and the equipment that was available. Then the students practiced using the equipment on samples collected from local sources. This enabled all students to become familiar with the equipment. Two weeks later all students used the equipment at the field site, Nine Mile Run, an urban stream that has undergone a 7.7 million dollar restoration funded by the Army Corps of Engineers and the City of Pittsburgh. This gave students a chance to use the equipment under field conditions. Dr. Heid again accompanied the group to help answer questions and otherwise assisted the students in using the computers and probes. All students were able to use the equipment and enjoyed the chance to learn how to use it. In some cases, standard water quality kits were also avail for use in both labs so that students could compare the use of the HP equipment compared to older methods. In addition, there was a third introductory session for all students using the GPS units that were part of the HP grant.  David Goldberg did a demonstration session. Then the students worked in groups to practice using the units to mark points and routes.

Students  learn how to use Water Quality Sensors in preparation for Stream Sampling:

For the second half of the lab, the students divided themselves into groups and designed their own projects, studying some aspect of Nine Mile Run. Three of the five groups of students used the HP equipment for their projects. One group compared  dissolved oxygen and pH in riffles and pools in a nearby stream, Phipps Run; a second group collected data on Nine Mine Run(temperature, pH, conductivity, turbidity and dissolved oxygen); the third group compared the standard kits(pH and oxygen) with the probes both in the lab and in the field. All were able to use the equipment on their own for their projects and all produced tables, graphs and other information based on the data collected. All were able to interpret the data and draw reasonable conclusions based on that data.

Students test water quality at 9-Mile Run

All students quickly learned to use the equipment and were able to produce graphs and tables of the data. The students seemed to be enthusiastic about using the equipment, especially in the field. There were three lab sessions that used the HP equipment. In addition three groups of students chose to use the equipment for their projects. The grant enabled us to purchase some new equipment to measure parameters that we had not been able to measure with the old kits, including turbidity, conductivity, and flow. Using the new probes and computers enabled students to immediately enter and manipulate data. With the old kits, the students had to hand record results and then inter the results into an Excel spreadsheet or similar data base. In addition, we were able to replace our old GPS units with updated versions that were compatible with the HP computers. Also, some other faculty joined the class for the introductory sessions in order to learn about the equipment to help them prepare for using the equipment in their own classes.

Quotes from students:

"The GPS units were awesome.”

“The lab was fun.”

“The new HP equipment provides a more accurate way of measuring water chemistry.”

“…we found that the kit(for dissolved oxygen) was less precise and less user friendly”.

“In addition, the HP probes were much more environmentally friendly when compared to the test kits.”

“I think this is a great addition to the Aquatic Biology Lab.”

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