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RUHS 10th Grade Science Classes Learn about Water Quality in Ayers Brook

By Michelle Holder

In the sunshine of the first weeks of October, RUHS 10th-grade students taking Integrated Science II – a class that combines chemistry and biology– donned their waders and headed into the river to learn firsthand about water quality.  Each class spent three to four hours in Ayers Brook behind the school’s athletic fields analyzing habitat, fish, the types of benthic macroinvertebrates, and water chemistry.

Benthic macroinvertebrates are small aquatic creatures without backbones that you can see with the naked eye. They include worms, nymphs, and insect larvae.  Knowing the types of benthic macroinvertebrates helps scientists better evaluate the quality of the water.  Students used a kick net specially designed to capture these small creatures.  They then used an analysis sheet to record their data. They also used a bug magnifier to observe the bugs’ behavior.

Students worked with their teacher, Deb Schaner, and with scientist Dan Ruddell of the White River Partnership. In addition to his work with local schools educating students, Ruddell also manages water quality and project monitoring programs. His expertise was essential to understanding the importance of this type of scientific study. 

Students prepared for the field trip by learning how to identify all of the insects that were in the water quality assessment, also known as the bioassay. They had to make a drawing of each organism. While some benthic macroinvertebrates can live in polluted water, many cannot, so during their fieldwork, students had to carefully identify the bugs they caught. 

Despite the summer flooding, results showed a healthy collection of species of benthic macroinvertebrates. The number of "sensitive to pollution" and "semi-sensitive to pollution" insects caught allowed students to give Ayers Brook the "very good" designation.  The trees and shrubs nearby create a “buffer zone,” which helps to keep the river in such good shape. All of this is good news for Ayers Brook and the RU students who put in such great scientific work.