After completing this project, we found out that the characteristics of a water source are extremely important. A simple stream or creek is not just a lifeless body of water, it has the ability to tell a person so much about the world. What was largely ignored for most of our lives has become a storybook of nature that illustrates the narrative of a surrounding community. By preforming tests such as conductivity, dissolved oxygen, and nitrate, we were able to make key inferences about a community many of us weren’t familiar with at the beginning thus opening our eyes to problems in nature that would not have manifested themselves to us without these tests. This project has taught us to value water in many different facets, from health to science. Water has such a profound effect on our lives and we need to do our best to nurture it so it can continue to provide for our communities. Although this project taught us to value water more readily, it also taught to value other aspects of the scientific process. As many say, patience is a virtue. This was one value that had to be exercised on a regular basis throughout the process because, on countless occasions, we ran into roadblocks that inhibited our ability to get our testing finished in a timely manner. We could’ve caved in and let the frustration take its toll, but we held our composure and stayed strong in the face of adversity. Errors were a commonplace and they only got better as we exercised patience and allowed the trial-and-error process to take hold. We also learned that team work is tantamount to success in scientific research. Since our testing had multiple facets to it, we needed everyone to be on the same page when compiling the results. Although coordination was difficult initially, we quickly learned to cooperate with one another which led to an effective execution of garnering results in an efficient manner. We also learned to communicate effectively throughout the project. We exercised an open-ended style in our group where everyone had a say in the final decision and everyone’s input was valued. This averted all potential conflict and it gave us relative ease when it came to delegating responsibility to each member. Overall, this project was both rewarding and fun; we learned a great deal of enriching information on our waterways. We’d like to thank the good folks at Berks Nature for allowing us to have this great opportunity. We’d also like to thank Dr. K and you guys for being a great audience for both of our presentations!
