Experiment+5.+Invertebrate+Survey

Experiment 5. Invertebrate Survey

Working in small groups of 2 or 3 you are to collect water samples from a range of locations along the Woodleigh School Water Course. The map below ([]) is a recent photo of the school showing the Brian Henderson Reserve and the watercourse as it winds through the vegetation behind the school buildings to the fire dam. This is the headwaters of one of the tributaries to Watson's Creek, which enters Western Port Bay at the Yaringa Marine National Park.

media type="custom" key="6522391"

In your groups you need to collect water with plant or leaf litter (that's where the bugs like to hide). You need to start in the East paddock of the Wildlife Reserve, take samples from the dam in the West paddock, and collect samples at regular intervals all the way along until the fire dam. Then you will need to look at the samples under the stereo microscopes and identify as many bugs as you can. The website - [] - will help you to identify them. Make an MS Excel spreadsheet that includes the location of the sample and a list of the bugs you have found. It could look like this:


 * Location || Bug 1 || Bug 2 || Bug 3 || Bug 4 ||
 * Dam in West Paddock || Yes No || No || No || Yes ||

You would have names of the bugs not bug 1 etc.

Then answer the following questions: 1. Were all the bugs found at every site? 2. Can you see a pattern in the data? That is, do certain bugs occur in certain types of water (still, running, deep, shallow) or where you find more plants or less plants? 3. Why do you think that would happen?