Fresh Discovery

The Great Lakes contain 95 percent of the U.S. supply of  fresh water.  Jim Tingey reported on his last visit to HPHS that new sources of freshwater have been discovered -- of all places -- under the sea.    For more info on this fresh discovery click here.

Fun Fact:   Spread evenly across the continental U.S., the Great Lakes would submerge the country under about 9.5 feet of water (Great Lakes Information Network)

What Do You Want to Know?

Tiny Plastics a Threat to Great Lakes

Think twice when you wash your face!  Tiny plastic beads included in many products for "exfoliation" are turning up in large numbers in Lakes Erie and Ontario.  The New York Times reports:

"In recent months, major cosmetics companies including Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, and Procter & Gamble have pledged to phase out the use of the beads in favor of natural alternatives, though they say the shift could take two years or more.  The Johnson & Johnson statement says, in part, "Our goal is to give consumers peace of mind that our products are gentle on people and gentle on the environment."

Alternatives are already on the market.  Maybe one of YOU can build awareness of this issue with your year end project!

Read the complete article here.

Swimming Large

Jim Tingey visited the classrooms last week to introduce your awesome research projects!

Students let the trout fry out of the (nest) boxes to swim in the big tank.  Next, you will get a chance to test the waters, just like they did~

Read here to learn more about the Nitrogen Cycle in the trout tank.

Awesome work from HPHS students yesterday!

 

Check out this article to read how the project inspires HPHS alum!

Welcome Students!

We are looking forward to meeting everyone down at Ravine Drive this coming Tuesday!

To get you started on your ravine exploration, read about a mystery regarding the state of our Great Lakes:
http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/22941/20131009/a-mystery-at-the-bottom-of-the-great-lakes-food-web

Be sure to scroll down to see some of the awesome activities students took part in last year. 

Watershed Resources

Here are some additional resources on watersheds:

Natural Resource Conservation Service Field Office Technical Guide

Technical guides are the primary scientific references for NRCS. They contain technical information about the conservation of soil, water, air, and related plant and animal resources.

Illinois Urban Manual

Build your own watershed planner

EPA Information on Watershed issues

Habitat Assessment Outline

Stream Habitat Assessment Worksheet

Watershed Assessment of River Stability and Sediment Supply

Effects of Road Salt on Ecosystem By: Lucas and Jeffy

Our project is going to focus on how road salt effects the fish and overall ecosystem of the ravine.
Here is the link to a website that gave great background information about the introduction of the use of salt to clear snow and ice from roadways. It gave us the year of origin, and a map of how use has increased over the past half century. It also gives the scientific reason that salt is able to melt away snow and ice. It is explained that salt lowers the freezing temperature of water to -21 degrees fahrenheit. This is a very interesting fact. The website will help us to introduce the project by giving the science behind it and a brief description of how much road salt is used nationally.  From here we hope to narrow it down to a state and city-wide scope, and that way we will be able to guess at how much salt can potentially reach our local ravines. http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/sr/sr235/017-030.pdf

Watershed Map

Map of the Lake Michigan watershed

HPHS Students Release Rainbow Trout into the Ravines!

The white suckers have returned to the ravines to make their nests and spawn! Suckers are a native Lake Michigan species that always return to their natal stream, where they were born, in order to spawn later in life. 

We were very lucky to have Janette Marsh, a watershed expert with the US EPA,  share her knowledge and experiences with us.

The students released the rainbow trout they have raised in their classrooms. We hope that the fish will return to our ravines in a few years to spawn, and if they do this is a great indication that the stream is a healthy habitat. They participated in a program called Trout in the Classroom, led by Trout Unlimited.

Bye, bye fish!

Students got a chance to put on waders and try out a Secchi Disk to test turbidity in Lake Michigan.

Thanks to everyone who came and participated in another great day at the ravines!

Your Research Question

Hello HPHS students! Please fill out the form below about your research question. If you have any questions you would like to ask, always feel free to email highlandparkravines@gmail.com.

Danny/Jessie/Justin

Question: How is Chronic Wasting Disease affecting deer population on a yearly basis in the U.S?

Question: What is th ethreat of CWD in this area?

Has the water level in the Great Lakes been rising or declining over the years?

Chlorine (Conductivity)

Trial 1 - Creek              Trail 2 - Creek

4.28 (High)                   4.25 (High)

Slamin' Salmon Research Project

How does the biology of saltwater fish compare to that of freshwater fish, such as the atlantic salmon?