Global Environmental Network Evoking Studies in Science (GENESIS)

RE: Amazing Organism Area: Butterfly Bush

2018-09-30T18:06:08Z

Nature is amazing. When I was younger, I learned about pioneer organisms and how they are the first ones to grow in very harsh conditions. The butterfly bush, unlike the lichens, was not a part of this group. However, it seems that this wonderful smelling plant that has been providing butterflies and skippers all summer with nectar has found a way to grow in conditions that would be considered not very hospitable. It is my hope that the members of the GENESIS group become like this bush, not just collecting data but figuring out ways to improve the conditions in their area. When I learned from our friends in Nigeria that the water they were testing contained bacteria that was making people sick, I prayed there was a way something could be done to help. A friend of mine gave me a book and in the book it talked about "Mission: Water for Life". This group provides wells for people around the world that don't have clean drinking water. I'm not sure how or if it would be possible to get this group to provide a well where this water in Africa was tested but I am looking into it. Hopefully, others can do the same in the areas they are working, seeking to make the world a better place. Enjoy the day.

RE: GENESIS: Welcome Back

2018-09-19T02:36:18Z

Hello to all of you from New York. As always, I am looking forward to working with this great group of GENESIS people especially after last years webinars. There have been some exciting developments that have occurred and I would like to share them with you. First, I would like to welcome a new member to the group, Berthy Buah, the GLOBE country coordinator from Ghana (thanks for making the connection Brian). She is looking to get her students involved with GLOBE water quality studies. I'm hoping we can help her become part of the family. The last time I contacted our educator in Maryland, Dorian, she was running around the world setting up the mosquito campaign GLOBE will be running this year. Best of luck D! Our friend Akin this summer in Nigeria has been involved with a plan to embark on a mini public health campaign in their community to educate the people on the danger of consuming water taken from streams without treatment that may contain E. coli bacteria. We wish him well on his endeavor and hope to hear of his success. Audra from Texas has touched base and is now teaching high school students. They plan on dedicating every Friday to GLOBE research (You go girl!!). Jeff, our star teacher from Michigan, is getting his group up and running and has a new student who will be working in Gibraltar which is on the Detroit River. She is being trained in probe work as we speak (#getting science done). Our new girl, Amy from Indiana USA writes: I’m now a sixth grade math and science teacher this year in an elementary. It is different from the middle school, but I’m excited about it! I working with a Purdue scientist and hoping to get a Globe project started in Sept./Oct. with my high ability kids. Good luck Amy. We are looking forward to hearing from you. Our teacher in Mahopac N.Y., Scott, was busy running GLOBE water quality tests on the stream in front of the high school to try and determine if the floating islands were improving the water quality. Grant money allowed him to hire 4 students to help with the work (He also brought his 2 sons who worked for free). Our star student, Sydney, has moved on to higher education at Princeton University where she will be studying to be a chemical engineer. Good luck young lady. I have come out of retirement (again) and am working with Carol at Horace Greeley High School in New York. We hope to put together a group to study the stream on campus to try and determine why there is so much algae. Speaking of coming out of retirement, our Pennsylvania member, Grandpa Gary, will be keeping his replacement Steve in the loop during Steve's first year at his old school. Our Connecticut Connection, Chris, has spent some time in Washington DC helping with the JASON project (a program designed to inspire students in STEM careers) and taught in China. Hopefully he helped develop a GLOBE school while he was there :-) Our friends in Croatia with their teacher Marija are set up to do studies this year thanks to the efforts of Dixon with YLACES and the people from Hach. We look forward to Skyping with them again this year. If I have missed anyone and their adventures, I apologize and hope if there is something you would like to add, please feel free to do so. My hope is to use the scientific method this year to drive our projects. Let's go make the world a better place. Sincerely, Bob

RE: Jewelweed (aka. touch-me-nots)

2018-09-17T01:24:03Z

Jewelweed is a widespread and common plant that occurs in moist, semi-shady areas throughout northern and eastern North America. It often forms dense, pure stands in floodplain forests and around the forested edges of marshes and bogs. Jewelweed also colonizes disturbed habitats such as ditches and road cuts. It can be an aggressive competitor in its favored habitats, and is one of the few native North American plants that has been shown to compete successfully against garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), which is a non-native invasive weed that threatens many eastern North American forests.
Seed Dispersal
Seeds produced in insect pollinated flowers can be forcefully ejected up to two meters away from the parental plant. Physical disturbance of the seed pods such as by the touch of a passing animal can stimulate the sudden ejection of the seeds. This feature allows the genetically recombined seeds to be transported away from the growth zone of the parental plant and, thus, possibly be placed in an environment that is slightly different from that of the parent. This feature is also the source of two common names for jewelweed: “touch-me-nots” and “poppers.”
Human Uses
The leaves and stems of jewelweed contain fluids that are rich in the chemical “lawsone.” Lawsone has anti-inflammatory and antifungal properties that can ease the irritation of a number of types of dermatitis (including reactions to poison ivy, stinging nettle, and insect bites) and has also been used to help treat human fungal infections like athlete’s foot. The chemical name of lawsone is hennotannic acid. This orange-red dye can be extracted from the leaves and is used as a hair and skin coloring agent ("henna").

RE: Global Water Quality Collaboration Group to GENESIS

2018-09-01T17:37:27Z

Hello from New York. My hope is that the summer went well with all of yol, sans-serif]u and that you are either well rested and/or exhausted and more knowledgeable from all of the activities you were involved with. Many people have been wondering where we should go from here regarding our attempt at putting together a global group to study water quality. My thought is to use the Scientific Method as we move forward. Step 1 would involve making OBSERVATIONS of the water in your area. Step 2 would involve coming up with a question (PROBLEM STATEMENT) derived from those observations (e.g. What effect is the landscape having on our water quality). Step 3 would involve researching (GATHERING INFORMATION) regarding the question (e.g. Is the land use in our area farmland, urban, suburban, paved, vegetated, etc.). Step 4 if forming a HYPOTHESIS. (Fertilizer from the surrounding land is increasing the nutrient content of the stream). Step 5: Experiment (TEST THE HYPOTHESES). Use GLOBE protocols to determine if your educated guess is correct. Step 6: ANALYZE THE RESULTS. (e.g. Results show an increase in nitrates after the area using fertilizers) Step 7: FORM A CONCLUSION (e.g. The increase in nitrates has affected the water quality - increase in algae growth). Step 8: COMMUNICATE YOUR RESULTS: Monthly webinars by the GENESIS groups to let the world know what we are up to.
Our hope is to start the webinars in September and go through until next May. If any of you would like to pick a month to present, feel free to to REPLY to one of Robert Connick's POSTS in the ENSO Phase III Community COLLABORATION FORUM click on the GENESIS Category then click on the GENESIS Thread or if that is too confusing, please just send me an email at connickr801@gmail.com. The months will be assigned on a first come - first serve basis. I will be working with all of you trying to find the best way to make this work. Please send me any ideas, thoughts, comments, concerns or questions you may have.
One last thing that I feel would make this important. Instead of just locating an issue with the water quality, I would hope that our groups would be taking steps on how they are working on improving the water quality and monitoring it to determine if their corrective measures are working. The idea is to IMPROVE the water quality, not just monitor it.
Since we are still receiving a lot of views on the Global Water Quality Collaboration Group thread, I will be sending this email out on that as well along with and email. I apologize if you receive this more than once. Eventually, I will only be using the GENESIS thread. Thanks again for your great work last year. Looking forward to working with you again this year.

RE: GENESIS: Where Do We Go From Here?

2018-09-01T17:30:52Z

Hello from New York. My hope is that the summer went well with all of you and that you are either well rested and/or exhausted and more knowledgeable from all of the activities you were involved with. Many people have been wondering where we should go from here regarding our attempt at putting together a global group to study water quality. My thought is to use the Scientific Method as we move forward. Step 1 would involve making OBSERVATIONS of the water in your area. Step 2 would involve coming up with a question (PROBLEM STATEMENT) derived from those observations (e.g. What effect is the landscape having on our water quality). Step 3 would involve researching (GATHERING INFORMATION) regarding the question (e.g. Is the land use in our area farmland, urban, suburban, paved, vegetated, etc.). Step 4 if forming a HYPOTHESIS. (Fertilizer from the surrounding land is increasing the nutrient content of the stream). Step 5: Experiment (TEST THE HYPOTHESES). Use GLOBE protocols to determine if your educated guess is correct. Step 6: ANALYZE THE RESULTS. (e.g. Results show an increase in nitrates after the area using fertilizers) Step 7: FORM A CONCLUSION (e.g. The increase in nitrates has affected the water quality - increase in algae growth). Step 8: COMMUNICATE YOUR RESULTS: Monthly webinars by the GENESIS groups to let the world know what we are up to.
Our hope is to start the webinars in September and go through until next May. If any of you would like to pick a month to present, feel free to to REPLY to one of Robert Connick's POSTS in the ENSO Phase III Community COLLABORATION FORUM click on the GENESIS Category then click on the GENESIS Thread or if that is too confusing, please just send me an email at connickr801@gmail.com. The months will be assigned on a first come - first serve basis. I will be working with all of you trying to find the best way to make this work. Please send me any ideas, thoughts, comments, concerns or questions you may have.
One last thing that I feel would make this important. Instead of just locating an issue with the water quality, I would hope that our groups would be taking steps on how they are working on improving the water quality and monitoring it to determine if their corrective measures are working. The idea is to IMPROVE the water quality, not just monitor it.
Since we are still receiving a lot of views on the Global Water Quality Collaboration Group thread, I will be sending this email out on that as well along with and email. I apologize if you receive this more than once. Eventually, I will only be using the GENESIS thread. Thanks again for your great work last year. Looking forward to working with you again this year.

RE: GLOBE Hydrology training webinar

2018-09-01T14:25:03Z

Hi Dorian. Is there a way to view the "Teaching Project Based Learning: The Importance of Fresh Water" webinar?? Was it archived anywhere?? Thanks.

RE: GLOBE Hydrology training webinar

2018-08-27T16:20:55Z

Hi Dorian,
The links you posted are not working.
Thank you,
Eslam

GLOBE Hydrology training webinar

2018-08-27T16:50:45Z

There are a few water-related trainings being offered for free in the next few weeks.
You can find the registration and information here - https://www.txstate-epdc.net/events/

Teaching Project Based Learning: The Importance of Fresh Water
Tuesday 08/28/2018
5:00 pm ET

Explore Earth: GLOBE Hydrology
Tuesday 09/04/2018
6:30 PM ET

RE: GENESIS: Welcome New Member

2018-08-24T17:32:22Z

Hello All. Just a quick note to welcome the newest member of our group from Chartiers-Houston School in Pennsylvania. He will be replacing Gary Popiolkowski who is retiring from teaching but not from GLOBE. Welcome aboard Steve. We look forward to having you eventually becoming involved with GENESIS once you establish yourself in the new school. Enjoy the day. Bob

RE: Important Update

2018-08-22T16:36:50Z

Hello. For those of you that have viewed or are viewing this thread, you need to read the third paragraph under "The ENSO Phase III Community" listed above. Thank you for your interest and our hope is that you will be able to join us in this endeavor to improve the water quality of our planet.

RE: GENESIS - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2018-08-21T20:14:05Z

I hope this correspondance finds all of you doing well and enjoying the last bit of summer. The MHS Genesis Group finished up their wetland work last week on an interesting note. The good in the picture with the ramp in it is that it is designed to allow people with physical disabilities to get involved with water quality studies on the stream in front of the high school. The section nearest the stream lifts off so a person in a wheelchair can lean over the side and lower a probe or collect water samples to be tested. It was installed as part of the Genesis Project and is one of the only ones in the state. A person from the American Disability Office came in his wheelchair and tested it out. He said it was great and wished his school had one when he was in high school.
The bad can be seen in the same picture. Providing a riparian buffer around the stream blocked much of the grass clippings from entering the water when the grass was mowed. Unfortunately, some of the clippings are still finding a way into the stream. We are working with the groundskeeper to improve the practices of the workers to help decrease the clipping from entering the water.
The ugly is a little hard to notice in the picture without the ramp but the plants growing on the left of the photo are doing so because of the sand/gravel/silt entering the stream from a storm drain. A specially designed catch basin was installed to help reduce the input but it requires the town to clean it periodically. The town has agreed to cleaning it more often and we look forward to seeing the results in the stream. Enjoy the day.

RE: Skipper Butterflies (or not)?

2018-08-13T22:22:57Z

When is a butterfly not exactly a butterfly and a moth not exactly a moth? Skippers share characteristics with both and are sometimes hard to distinguish.Skippers are members of the Lepidoptera family that do not fit the cookie mold for either butterflies or moths. They are usually small and have a rapid, fluttering, 'skipping' flight style that is difficult to follow. They are classed in the family Hesperiidae and are not actually considered true butterflies, but they are more closely related to them than they are moths.Physical characteristics include antennae with a 'hook' on the end. Butterflies have clubbed antennae and moths have feathery antennae or simple straight filaments. Skippers have a thick, fuzzy body more in keeping with moths and larger compound eyes as well.These little guys are generally recognized by their dull brown, tan or pale gold colors and are often overlooked in the garden. It's a shame, because these are some of the most entertaining insects you can find. They have good eyesight and are seldom still for more than a few moments. They skip from flower to flower and prefer plants of the Asteraceae family.One of the most unique habits some Skippers have is the tendency to hold their fore wings and hind wings at two different angles. This gives them a little 'fighter jet' appearance and as as quick as they are, it is a great description. There are also spread-winged Skippers and those that hold their wings vertical. These tend to be larger members of the family, however they are still on the small side in the butterfly world.Some were spotted in our wetland (see photo below). I also saw some zipping around our butterfly bush in the back yard. They are fast!!

GENESIS: Horace Greely posts first data on GLOBE

2018-08-08T19:21:04Z

Congratulations to Mrs. DiGuglielmo for setting up a GLOBE water quality study site, collecting samples, running tests and then entering the data into GLOBE. This is important in helping to maintain the momentum we have in establishing a global water quality study group. The reason for water quality studies at this site is shown in the pictures. While collecting water, we noticed a backhoe upstream. We are not sure of the reason but it was removing plants from around the stream. The effects on the water quality can be seen in the pictures by the change in transparency/turbidity. Before the work started, the stream had a transparency of 0 JTU's (Jackson Turbidity Units). After the work took place, the reading went above 100 JTU's. Our hope is to find out why the work was being done and to work on preventing further damage to the stream. Another observation was the presence of Canadian geese. These birds have created a "poop problem" in our area. Continued monitoring of this water course will help establish a baseline so changes can be detected and dealt with.

RE: Dirty Feet = Better Wetlands

2018-08-08T19:02:58Z

MHS Genesis girls Alyssa and Morgan took to the stream in front of Mahopac High School to collect water quality data. The result: lots of good information and wet, dirty feet. They collected water samples from a site before and after a pond (pre and post pond) where floating islands have been put to test their efficacy in removing nutrients and suspended particles. These girls are also working with Dr. Alyssa Perrone on a pilot study of Lake Mahopac to determine the effect of land use on the water quality. Just an idea of what motivated students can do when given the chance.

RE: Water Transparency Project

2018-08-03T01:20:27Z

Hi Anne. First, I would like to wish you success in your endeavor. It sounds like a great way to involve students in the science process. At Mahopac High School in New York, we have taken a lot of transparency readings but have not matched them to soil types in our area. I'm not sure if they would help but you can get the transparency readings at MHS Hydrology Site Pre pond:SWS-05 and MHS Hydrology Site Post pond:SWS-07 on the GLOBE website. Just go to GLOBE Data and click on the retrieve data link. I believe there are pictures of the sites which may help students relate the surrounding with transparency readings. Good luck. I hope this helps. There may be others in the GENESIS collaboration forum that can help.

RE: Water Transparency Project

2018-08-02T08:55:04Z

RE: Water Transparency Project

2018-08-01T20:42:23Z

Anne .... I am happy to help anyway I can. I think I have layers that would work and I think we can get them in a form that 4th gradres could use pretty easily.

Water Transparency Project

2018-08-01T15:53:22Z

Hello All

My institution is issuing a call for water transparency data taken with transparency/turbidity tubes as part of the Water Transparency Project. The Water Transparency Project is an initiative to support 4th grade educators in South Dakota in meeting the Earth Science Standard 4-ESS2-1 Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation.

Water transparency is a way to indirectly measure erosion that enters lakes, rivers, and streams through rain and snow melt. A robust data set will allow students to compare their local data with regional, national and even international data and analyze their findings in the context of geology, land cover, and land use.

I am looking for an interactive mapping platform that will layer the data over the geology, land cover, and land use for an activity that is slated to be released in 2018. So far, I've looked at Google My Maps, ESRI story maps, and National Geographic Mapmaker Interactive. Each platform has something to recommend it and each has drawbacks. I welcome any other suggestions.

RE: MHS GENESIS group: Macro Monday

2018-07-30T12:27:12Z

Students and teachers got together to collect and analyze macroinvertebrates from the stream in front of Mahopac High School in New York to determine if the addition of a riparian buffer around the stream is making a difference in the amount and type of macros in the water course. Most of the plants around the stream were provided by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for free through their "Trees for Tribs" program and planted by the students. Students used the GLOBE macroinvertebrate protocol for "All Habitats" for their work. This will allow them to compare data that was collected in 2010, 2012 and 2014. Today on Make a Difference Monday, we will be inputting the data onto the GLOBE site to draw conclusions. Enjoy the day!

RE: Global Environmental Network Evoking Science In Students (GENESIS)

2018-07-25T18:50:13Z

Hello from New York. I wasn't sure of the best way to send the Excel files with the water quality information that was collected by the GENESIS groups so I apologize if you get this information twice. I have attached the information I was able to gather and generated averages for the parameters tested. I hope you get a chance to look it over. Enjoy the day.