Student Research Reports

My research question is that I am going to test the water quality in Cairl Creek, Wolf Creek, Swan Creek, and the Maumee River. It is important because I now know the importance of the water that runs through my backyard. It provides for the many fish that are living in the Maumee and also pastimes for the water loving people surrounding the Maumee. My hypothesis is that the water quality will worsen as we move further down the Maumee Watershed. This is my hypothesis, as water quality usually is not as good the more populated an area is. Independent variable: where I test the water and when I test the water. Dependent variable: the amount of dissolved oxygen, nitrates, nitrites, pH, and hardness in the water. Constant factors: the location and the test methods. My hypothesis was not supported by my results. For example, the Maumee River phosphate level was not the highest, it was Cairl Creek that had the highest. The best water qualities were in Wolf Creek and Swan Creek. I believe this is so, as Swan Creek is a Metropark, which leads me to believe that they try to keep out pollutants that would negatively affect the water quality. I believe Cairl Creek has the worst water quality, as the water does not flow very quickly and there are many parts of the creek where it is clogged up from leaves and also trash. The leaves cause a higher phosphorus level, which we did see. This is why my hypothesis was not supported by my results.