Muskrat

The water levels have risen dramatically in the brook due to the recent rains. This morning a muskrat was swimming in the brook just north of Parade Street. Then it disappeared under water, which is something it couldn't have done about a week ago due to the low water level.

Presentation Planning

On this wet day we worked at school on planning our presentation for various local businesses. We identified 3 key areas that need to be spoken about.
1. Data: Our research shows that levels of pH and brook temperatures are acceptable for fish and other aquatic wildlife. There was however problems that appeared on the weekend. There is also scum at some places that perhaps indicate high levels of phosphates or nitrates that we will have to do further testing on. We will need to purchase a testing kit to check it out and get water samples. We also want to test for dissolve oxygen.
2. Garbage: Pollution from the various businesses is affecting the ecosystem. We will show its affect on flora (plants) and fauna (animals). We can also show from the historical data we've collected that some animals, such as turtles, that use to be at the brook are no longer there. Garbage also makes a store look bad; it's bad for their image. We would like to be able to report that our local businesses are good corporate citizens, especially when it comes to our precious watershed.
3. Cooperation: We want to encourage them to discontinue the use of plastic bags. We would also appreciate their support. They could help supply equipment that we need to continue our work. We can show our appreciation through a thank-you notice in the Vanguard.
Next we need to get our presentation ready. We asked Superstore to call us about using their meeting room, but they haven't got back to us.

Clean up

We went to clean up at Walmart. It was really dirty! We found lots of newspapers, flyers, plastic, plastic bags, cups and big pieces of styrofoam. We did the clean up in less than 20 minutes. It was sunny. When we were done, we brought two big bags of garbage into Superstore and schedualed a meeting with the head manager.

october readings

Today was a lovely but chilly day. The temperature in Yarmouth was 10.3 C. It was windy. The temperature readings were...

Walmart - 13.1C
Burton - 12.4C
Drainage pipe - 12.3C
Parade - 13.2C

PH READINGSS!!

Walmart - 7.4pH
Burton - 6.8pH
Drainage - 6.6pH
Parade - 6.6pH

There was LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of garbage at Walmart, such as flyers, newspaper, a huge piece of styrophoam, and LOTS and LOTS of orange goop at the drainage pipe next to Burton... but there wasn't the previous week.

September readings

We went to the brook and took readings at three spots.
Temperature
Parade street-17.2C
Burton-16.7C
Walmart-19.9C


pH
Parade street-6.9
Burton-6.6
Walmart-6.7

The readings were good! Todays temperature was 17C, a mainly sunny day.

First trip to the brook

This was our first time going to the brook, we walked up and had a look around. We decided to divide our group in two and each work on a different section of the brook.
One team will work from Parade street to Stars road and the other will work from Parade street towards Kelly's Cove. We will work together to clean up area around Walmart. We learned how to use the probe kit, and headed home! ☺

Kelly's Cove Cleanup

On Saturday, September 20, some of the Environmental Association went to Kelly's Cove to help with a beach clean up. Kelly's Cove is where Broad Brook empties into the Gulf of Maine.

We picked up many different things, but most of the items were connected with the fishing industry, such as lobster bands, plastic bands for boxes; and we even found a few lobster traps.

Reading 4 June 3rd

Today we went to the brook and took a reading. The temperature outside is 17C and the humidity is 68%.
This is what we found:
Parade street north: 25.5 C / 7.4 pH
Burton Ave:22.6C / 6.9 pH
Drainage pipe: 12.0 C / 6.6 pH
Homestead: 22.2 C / 7.0 pH

Enviro Meeting

Today after school we split into 3 groups. One group went up to the brook and did a clean up. They filled a large bag with garbage.
Another group rinsed and sorted bottles that were collected around the school.
The third group worked at updating the blog and looking through recent pictures taken from the GOMI mini-conference.

GOMI mini-conference Brier Island

On Friday, May 23, a group of five students and Mme. Pothier and Mr. Markle left Yarmouth Junior High after school (around 3:30) and drove to Brier Island, arriving just after 6 PM. We stayed at the Brier Island Lodge. After supper we had opening ceremonies.

On Saturday group 1 went whale watching while group 2 went out on the mudflats at low tide. We met back at the lodge around lunch and then switched with group 2 going whale watching and group 1 went to see what bugs, fish, etc. we could catch with a net. Then we brought it back to the lab at Islands Consolidated School and looked at some of them under the microscope and identified them. Groupe 2 saw the balancing rock while on the whale watching tour. We had a barbeque and then each school presented their projects. Along with Yarmouth Junior High, Barrington, Bear River and Island Consolidated made presentation.
Sunday, after breakfast, we participated in a presentation on the traditional use of wool and other materials in making various items, such as pillows, blankets, rug hooking, etc. We got the ferry and headed home. Unfortunately we had to miss the geocaching and tree planting, but everyone had an enjoyable time.

Readings 3

On Monday May 26th, around 10 a.m, a group of students went to Broad Brook to take some temperatures and pH readings. It was a mainly sunny day, with a temperature of 14.7˚C, wind was SW 33 and humidity was 58%.

Temperature:
Parade St. N - 12.8 °C
Burton Ave. - 13.3°C
Drainage Pipe - 10.0°C
Homestead - 13.0°C

pH:
Parade St. N - 7.0
Burton Ave. - 6.9
Drainage Pipe - 6.7
Homestead - 6.8

-The grass was growing since the last time we went to Broad Brook.
-Flowers were starting to grow. The drainage pipe coming from the mall had some garbage stuck in the grate.

Readings 2

It was a sunny day with few clouds, a temperature of 15.6˚C and humidity of 71%. Around 1:30 we did some more temperature and pH reading at Broad Brook. Notice is that algae on the water?

Temperature:
Bend: 18.4˚C
Burton Ave.: 18.6˚C
Drainage pipe: 10.0˚C
Homestead: 17.5˚C

pH:
Bend: 6.9 pH
Burton Ave.: 7.1 pH
Drainage pipe: 6.5 pH
Homestead: 6.9 pH

Readings 1

In the afternoon of April 28, a group of students took temperature and pH readings at Broad Brook. It is interesting to note the drop in temperature happens when the water has gone through a pipe. How does water life, like fish, do when they come to the pipe underneath the parking lot at Walmart? We noticed a drop in temperature of about 9˚C at the drainage pipe, and in Broad Brook, just around the corner from the drainage pipe, the temperature is also lower.

Temperature:
Parade St. S.: 15.4˚C
Parade St. N.: 17.3˚C
Burton Ave.:16.4˚C
Drainage pipe: 7.9˚C
Homestead: 14.8˚C

pH:
Parade St. S.: 6.7 pH
Parade St. N.: 7.1 pH
Burton Ave.: 6.8 pH
Drainage pipe: 6.5 pH
Homestead: 7.0 pH

weekly meeting

Today we cleaned up, sorted and bagged the bottles we collected last week. the smell is HORRIBLE! Also three of our members went around the school to get more bottles from the refundable bins in the classrooms. This is one of the ways we raise money for excursions and equipment.

Earth Day Cleanup -Walmart

Today, April 22nd, is earth day. Our environmental club went to the broad brook and helped Brenda Adams and Dan Earle clean up a lot the garbadge. We found a lot of grocery bags, coffee cups , news papers and flyers. We also pulled a shopping cart out of the brook.


After we cleaned up the garbadge we went off to start our geo-cashing and all got to sign the log book that we found in the geo-cash box. At the end of the day we all got a certificate of participation in earth day! Happy earth day envryone and don't forget "We all can make a difference!"

Earth Day Clean Up

A group of the Environmental Association went to clean up at Broad Brook. We started at Burton Ave. and went towards Starrs Rd. and also towards Parade Street. We filled about 8 bags with garbage. Mostly the garbage was plastic, such as plastic bags, wrappers and styrofoam. There is an oily film on the water in several spots. There were only about 4-5 recyclables.

There were about half a dozen Tim Horton cups and lids and several things came from Kent's. The most unusual things we found were parts from a car engine and a CB radio.
We saw a couple of ducks, frogs and tadpoles. It was a lovely day for a clean up.