Plant pictures

Today we took many pictures of the different plants around Broad Brook. I was a really nice day, and we saw ducks at Parade St. and Burton Ave. We also saw a frog at Burton Ave. On our way back to the school as we were walking through the cemetery we saw and heard a squirrel, and then a woodpecker (red, black, white) landed on a nearby tree.

Today we went up to the brook at 9 am it was sunny and warm, we picked up garbage. Most of the the garbage we found were styrofoam and peices of plastique. We also found a duck with a fish in his mouth, we saw bee's.

Water Test

Today we took the water sample that we collected from the brook two weeks ago and did a nitrate test. The results were 0 mg/L. We took the water sample from the drainage pipe that flows into the brook.

Ducks

Today we went to the brook from 9-10 AM. It was a nice day. We saw a duck in the brook on the north of Parade St. Later we saw two duck flying overhead. Later still a duck landed in the brook. We found a toy truck, an ice cap cup, and plastics bags along the edge of the brook. There was a bottle in the water.

Broad Brook 2010

Today was sunny. We walked up to Broad Brook on Parade Street and took pictures of ducks (mallards). We found garbage: a metal pole, electrical wire, hygene products, Tim Horton cups, chip bags, pieces of glass, styrofoam, plastic bags, pieces of green plastic, orange rubber, a firework. It was muddy. We talked from one side of
the road to the other. We timed how long it took for something to float from one side to the other. It took 2 min. 32 sec. We noticed green algae on the rocks where the water came out of a pipe.

Earth Day Activity

This afternoon, the 8-F and 7-F classes went on an earth day exploration, we took the bus to the Walmart area, by the brook, and cleaned all the garbage. We gathered around 8 bags of garbage, which includes food wrappers, metal, glass,( etc. ..)
It was a very cold, damp and rainy day which brought our spirits down, but knowing that we were helping the earth brought them back up again.
Next we walked to Burton avenue, split up into groups, one going to the drainage pipe and the others going to the field. We found one big mass of garbage which included plastic bags, photos, clothes and lighters. We gathered more garbage, which is hurting the earth's environment. The water still has a orange layer of foam over the water (algae?) covering the water in a layer of gunk.
We found a shopping cart in the woods and used it to carry our bags full of garbage back to the school.
Afterward we walked to the Parade street drainage pipe. A student found minnows and another stickleback fish. There was probably the least amount of garbage here, but there was still a lot.
We arrived back to the school after two hours of garbage picking, a job well done if I do say so myself. (L.T.)
We would like to thank Kent for supplying garbage bags and disposing of the trash that we collected near their store.

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.