Chocomonster1's+Pond+Ecosytem

** By chocomonster1 6A-210 **
 * Pond Ecosystem **

Hi! I’m “chocomonster1” from 6A at the [|Amigos School]. Our class has gone on many field trips to study water ecosystems to spread awareness to people about our water conditions. I am studying a pond ecosystem and using the data that we collected on our field trip to [|Black's Nook Pond] in [|Cambridge, MA]. We got to study the biotic organisms, which were the Producers, Consumers: Primary, S econdary, Tertiary and the Decomposers. We also studied the abiotic factors, which were the natural and artificial factors. I couldn’t believe how many organisms were in one small pond ecosystem!

On September 23, 2010, when the weather w as 70º and sunny, we went on a fieldtrip to Black's Nook Pond in Cambridge, MA. We took [|public transportation] (a bus) on our way there, which conserved carbon dioxide. Immediately as we got there we heard birds, squirrels and water. We got to work measuring abiotic factors in the pond water such as pH, turbidity and temperature. To measure pH, we had a small strip of paper that we would dip in the water and based on the color it turned, that would be the amount of pH, or how much acid in the water there was. We got 6.8. We used a thermometer to measure the temperature in the water and it was 68º F or 20º C. We also used bucket with a black and white disk to measure turbidity, which was 20 JTU. The last thing we measured was dissolved oxygen and we used a small pill to put in a water sample and just like the pH, based on the color the water turned, was how much dissolved oxygen there was. We got 2ppm, which was pretty good for the pond.

During the investigation on Black’s Nook Pond’s water ecosystem, we studied a lot of the biotic life. One of the first consumers we saw was a secondary consumer, a frog. The frogs were basking in the sun on a log. The next consumer, a tertiary consumer was a great blue heron. It flew over us and landed on some smartweed, a producer. We also saw some little tadpoles, which were swimming towards the water lilies, another producer, that’s leaves were floating on the water. Near the fuzzy moss, one of my favorite producers, fungi was growing and decomposing some rotting logs. In the mud, a worm was crawling through some fallen leaves, which were almost decomposed. Lastly, there were small mushrooms by the pond that seemed like they had never been touched before. Here is my Black's Nook Pond ecosystem food web. All of these consumers are part of an energy pyramid. The sun starts it off by giving energy to the producers. The producers give energy to the primary consumers, the herbivores, which give energy to the secondary consumers, the omnivores, which then give energy to the tertiary consumers, the carnivores. Throughout the flow, heat is given off.

According to our data, we found out the Black’s Nook Pond is fairly healthy. We figured ou t that the amount of pH (6.8) was average and healthy. We also recorded data about our smaller biotic “beastie” friends. To find out how polluted the water was, we re corded how sensitive to pollution the organisms were. Overall we got FAIR. I know that we helped out the “[|World Water Monitoring Day]” foundation a lot by recording data and studying a water ecosystem. Overall the pond was healthy and a great h abitat for many organisms. media type="custom" key="8380784" width="170" height="170" align="left"