Today's activity was one like I have never done before.  It was a great activity to tie everything that we have done in this class together. I really liked how we were taught how to formulate the data, put it into ArcGIS, and add pictures to the site yesterday with the tree activity.  Then, today we got to take it a step further by collecting more in depth data.  This allowed us to practice what we learned. 

I loved the hands-on field trip that we went on today.  It was fun, exciting, and one that I think students would thoroughly enjoy.  I think it would be better for high school students, but I could see 5th or 6th graders doing an activity like this if we had 1 parent volunteer for each group of 3-4 students.  I think it would be fun to use this as a field trip for my 6th grade students next year.  I think it would tie in with the scientific method, microbiology, mapping skills, etc.  I think it would be fun for them to bring back water/bug samples from different areas and they could continue to do different experiments back in the classroom.  I think I would add a math portion into this by having them figure out distances vs. temperatures and stuff like that. 

I thought it was interesting how even though we were not assigned individual roles as a group, we all kind of split the jobs and completed the same job at each location we visited.  I thought our team worked great together.  I also thought it was interesting how when we got back to the classroom, we all continued to work as a group to continue working throughout the day.   

I learned so much about the water shed, bugs, etc. today.  I don't think I have ever looked at bugs so closely before, nor have I ever tried to catch them before.  Although I have checked the pH levels and temperature of water before, I have never checked  Dissolved Oxygen, Turbidity, or Nitrate.  So, all in all, I think this was a great experience, and it definitely beat being in the classroom all day.

I am unaware of any questions I have today...But, I am sure I will think of some as I am working on my projects.

Tree Mapping Activity
Things I learned and found interesting...
To start the morning off, we did an activity where we mapped the location of all of the trees.  I thought this activity was very interesting. Not only because we could use the GPS (which was so cool), but because we were able to input other information that we tracked.  With the extra information (height, circumference, type, etc.), we were able to put it in Excel and then move it into the ArcGIS website.  I really liked learning how to input all of this information into the programs so we could create different layers on the same map.  Another thing I learned how to do today is how to link my pictures from dropbox onto my map on ArcGIS.  I think this is pretty interesting because I had never used ArcGIS or BaseCamp before yesterday, and now I feel like I am really starting to understand it. 

Questions that I still have...
How can I adapt the water project to a 6th grade curriculum?

USU-Stream Mapping-Water Sheds

Water Cycle projects for 4th grade
Recreation Water
Biological Monitoring
Pollutants
Microorganisms- looking for bugs in the water from different locations
Chemical Monitoring (what is in the water that you can't see)

Types of polution:
Point Source (comes from a pipe) Easy to control and keep track where the pollution comes from.
Nonpoint Source (comes from run off from roads, etc.) Not easy to control

Bugs of the Underworld-  Really cool bug video about mayflies