Published in the October 21, 2015 edition
FROM THE LEFT ARE Ryan Tracy, Aidan Timmins, Ava Gustafson, John Reagan, Zachary Sartori, Janet Rivers – Business Development Manager & Senior Mortgage Originator at Wakefield Co-operative Bank, Evan Zeltsar, Cynthia Fitzpatrick, Grace Wallace, Emily Vincente, Erin Mackey, Marcus Guida.
WAKEFIELD — Grade 5 Galvin Middle School students tested the water in Lake Quannapowitt last week via a series of four quality tests and collected data needed to participate in World Water Monitoring Challenge (WWMC) (www.monitorwater.org ).
WWMC is an international education program working to raise awareness and involvement in protecting water resources around the world by engaging citizens to conduct basic monitoring of their local water bodies. Funding for the students’ testing was covered in part by a donation from Wakefield Co-operative Bank.
Students walked from Galvin Middle School to the Lake in small groups over the course of three days between Oct. 13 to 16 and performed temperature, turbidity, dissolved oxygen and PH tests on two different samples of Lake water under the direction of field guides from New England Discovery.
Temperature of the water was 13 degrees Celsius, turbidity was 5 JTU, dissolved oxygen was average and PH was well within neutral range. Students are planning to submit the results to World Water Monitoring’s online global database and will then compare Lake Quannapowitt’s data with results collected by students around the world in December.
“This was an invaluable experience for students on many levels,” said Cynthia Fitzpatrick, science teacher at Galvin Middle School. “It taught them how to work as scientists in the field, the importance of safety when using chemistry and the real need for all of us to act as ambassadors for protecting our beautiful Lake’s water. We are very grateful to Wakefield Co-operative Bank for aiding in funding of the program.”
