Environmental Research Study On Our Local Chollas Creek

Zamaria Rocio Teacher: Zamaria RocioGrades: 6th-8thSan Diego, California

Question?

• How will the weather affect the creek in a ten-month period?

California Standards Covered:

• Investigation and Experimentation

• 7. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:

• a. Develop a hypothesis.• b. Select and use appropriate tools and technology (including calculators, computers, balances, spring scales,

microscopes, and binoculars) to perform tests, collect data, and display data. • c. Construct appropriate graphs from data and develop qualitative statements about the relationships between

variables. • d. Communicate the steps and results from an investigation in written reports and oral presentations. • e. Recognize whether evidence is consistent with a proposed explanation.• f. Read a topographic map and a geologic map for evidence provided on the maps and construct and interpret a

simple scale map. • g. Interpret events by sequence and time from natural phenomena (e.g., the relative ages of rocks and intrusions). • h. Identify changes in natural phenomena over time without manipulating the phenomena (e.g., a tree limb, a grove

of trees, a stream, a hillslope).

Materials/Methods

• GLOBE protocols-Atmosphere/Climate

• Rebar (6) placed in pairs at opposite shores, at three different locations

• Brick laying string (will be attached to rebar pairs

• Digital camera for documentation

• Metric rulers

Abstract

– Over a school-year period of time, students will investigate the level of this local creek. The beginning of this creek is located ~3km away. Chollas Creek eventually feeds into the San Diego Bay. Most of it (75%) travels through heavily populated areas. The area of the creek that my students would have access to and which would be safe for us to use, is ~16 meters long. San Diego gets very little rain; averaging less than 25 cm per year.

Camera Usage

• Students will document water level, cloud cover, and vegetation growth at the creek.

• Students will also document their procedure to make into a power-point presentation for other students, parents, and community.

Data Transformation

• Monthly graphs will be made

• Data tables will be used