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An investigation of freshwater macroinvertebrates to assess water quality at Lake Viljandi
Organization(s):Estonian Learning Expedition
Country:Estonia
Student(s):Meena Rooden, Miina Mikita, Helga Kadi Leedo, Grete Käärik, Johanna Sõber, Matilda Saarso
Grade Level:Middle School (grades 6-8, ages 11-14)
GLOBE Teacher:Helin Semilarski
Contributors:Laura Altin
Johanna Raudsepp
Tiina Sõber
Report Type(s):International Virtual Science Symposium Report
Protocols:Freshwater Macroinvertebrates
Presentation Poster:
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Optional Badges:I am a Collaborator, I make an Impact
Language(s):English
Date Submitted:03/05/2021
At first we caught the freshwater macroinvertebrates in Lake Viljandi and a pond connected to it. We tried to identify them, and count the taxons present at both of the sites in a span of 30 minutes. After that we rated the water quality of the sites with a protocol of freshwater invertebrates as bioindicators.
After conducting the experiment in both locations and analysing the information we understood that our first hypothesis, about finding a bigger amount of species of macroinvertebrates in the pond, had been wrong. We caught 19 taxons of freshwater macroinvertebrates in the pond, but we found 22 taxons of freshwater macroinvertebrates in the lake.
Our second hypothesis had been correct. According to the bioindicator protocol, the water quality in the pond had gotten a score of 32 points, meanwhile the lake had gotten a score of 46.