Freshwater Forensics
Grade Level: All Grades Welcome
Description
Freshwater Forensics invites teams to examine surface water more closely, investigating pathways, sources of pollution and water quality indicators. Students will also take a closer look at how agricultural phosphorus fertilizers run off into local waterways and result in harmful algae blooms in Lake Erie. Teams of students will be given thirty minutes to complete a series of challenges about water health. Challenges will include:
- analyzing water and nutrient cycling through diagrams and a hands-on rainfall simulator
- matching pictures of water pollution prevention strategies to their definitions
- identifying indicators of water quality (a variety of live aquatic macroinvertebrates) presented to them, brought from the Thames River
Participants
A team of up to four members.
Note: Please note this event does not require training and practice beforehand, but reviewing the enclosed supplementary material to prepare for the event is recommended
Materials
Teams will be provided with materials to complete each challenge in this event, such as:
- Diagrams, definitions and an interactive rainfall simulator
- Booklets and pencils for recording each team’s answers
- Tweezers, spoons and hand lenses for handling and identifying live aquatic macroinvertebrates, as well as a 1-page visual identification guide
Judging
Teams will be scored on the number of questions they answered correctly in their booklets. To achieve full marks, each question must be answered correctly. Part of this score is based on the number of aquatic organisms identified correctly (an identification guide will be provided). In the case of a tie, the team who completed the event faster will be ranked ahead of the slower team.
Rules
The team will be given 30 minutes to complete the series of challenges. A booklet will be provided to the team for reference during the event. The booklet will contain definitions of key terms and a space to record the team’s answers. Students may not use any device such as a smartphone or tablet to communicate with any outside source during this event, with the sole exception of taking photos.
