My class drove east through Ramona and past Julian to Volcan mountain. We went on a hike on a path through he woods till we got to Sky Island. We returned and tested the water from the river, and then created a rainstorm on a wooden model of the watershed. Afterwards, we finished up with an activity where we got into pairs taking turns to take pictures with our eyes. The first picture had to have been a representation of ourselves and the second picture had to be something we feel represents the Volcan Mountains. Volcan Mountains: Phosphates: <1 ppm Temperature: 10-12 *C (upstream) 14-16 *C (downstream) pH Level: 7-8 Turbidity: 0 JTU Nitrates: 5 ppm Bacteria: positive for coliform Dissolved Oxy: 10 ppm Lake Sutherland: Phosphates: 1 ppm Temperature: 14-16 *C pH Level: 10 Turbidity: 100 JTU Nitrates: 10 ppm Bacteria: positive for coliform Dissolved Oxygen: 8 ppm
Our team took a field trip to the San Dieguito Lagoon. Rangers and researchers had four stations set up when we got there. -we got binoculars and did some birdwatching around a part of the lagoon -we tested water samples -we attempted to match animals with their skulls (we used stuffed animals) -we learned about and observed marine animals and we got the chance to see a map of the watershed
The rangers sampled water from two areas: the treatment pond, which was an artificial area that is dry some of the year, and the lagoon itself.
The area we were in was so beautiful. A few years ago there was a fire that went through the area. There are a couple pictures below that show some of the aftermath. The trees that were burned made the area have a bit more of a rustic feel. We didn’t see any animals on the hike, but there were some birds around. When we got to Sky Island you could see so far. We did see a lot a couple of rare species of plants. I don’t remember the names of them though. One of the plants that we saw was some strawberries on the side of the trail. We did see animal scat on the trail. We did know there were mountain lions and coyotes there, but we didn’t see any.
Field Work: 1/19/16 At San Dieguito Lagoon:
Wetland: Water Indication Hydric soil Wetland vegetation 5.0 mg/L Dizzolved Oxygen for aquatic life to survive
Turbidity is the measure of how clear water is. It is caused by suspended matter such as clay, silt, and microscopic organisms.
Fill a small plastic jar with the water you collected at your location.
Place the plastic jar in a turbidity meter. I'm not sure if all turbidity meters that you connect to a laptop will show a graph, but ours did. Once it leveled out, we got 11.8 NTU which is pretty clear. Tap water is between a 0 and 8.
I feel like although I've only worked in the field once, it was something I enjoyed doing. I also feel like I got some good information out of it as well. In comparison to class, I don't have a preference. I like going out to collect data and being given something to test.