Penrith Lakes: Aim: To Examine How Good The Environment Is by Measuring The Water
Penrith Lakes: Aim: To Examine How Good The Environment Is by Measuring The Water
Penrith Lakes: Aim: To Examine How Good The Environment Is by Measuring The Water
Penrith Lakes
Hypothesis: If the following tests show robust and positive results then
Penrith lake’s freshwater aquatic ecosystem is in good, healthy
condition.
Method:
Sarah Milani, 12BIO
- Conductivity:
1. Take the hand held Total dissolved Solids (TDS) scan and
turn it on.
Sarah Milani, 12BIO
STATION 2- Dipnetting:
1. Grab a rod with a net or strainer at the end of it.
2. Select an area from the lake.
3. Drag the net through the water.
4. Discharge findings into a bucket or container with water in it.
5. Separate and count the waterbug species.
6. Record the number of water species found.
Results:
STATION 1- Abiotic Measurements:
Site- Final Detention Basin Conditions- Sunny/ Hot
Water source- Groundwater and run-off
FACTORS EQUIPMENT Results Average
results
Phosphate Test tablet kit 1.5 ppm 1.5 ppm
(1ppm = Excellent) Measured in- ppm
(parts per million)
STATION 2- Dipnetting:
Total Abundance- 31
Total number of species seen- 9
Total Abundance- 79
Discussion:
Impacts of Penrith Lakes ' abiotic influences before, during, and after the European
settlement have changed dramatically. One of Australia's first agricultural
settlements was Penrith Lakes. The Europeans began to make use of the land about
Sarah Milani, 12BIO
250 years ago and settled in. In the 1800s, the Europeans and the aboriginal people
of Australia began agriculture at Penrith Lakes and during that period the natural
forest gradually burned, egrets no longer remained and more sediments and
nutritions became runoff. As for the water quality throughout the european
settlement; high phosphate, high salinity, low oxygen, high turbidity, and low
biodiversity.
The workers who were with us the entire day gave good explanations and helped us
if we were stuck with any of the experiments. They also gave us a good
understanding of the lakes and what they are used for. As for the experiments it was
pretty simple procedures and everyone got different results however in the same
range. We had a good amount of time to do the experiments and record our results.
The end result was that Penrith lakes is all round a healthy and diverse ecosystem.
Station 2- Dipnetting:
Each of us stood around the side of the Lake dragging our strainers into the water
and discharging them into the buckets. The helpers told us what each species we
caught was. There were mostly mosquito fish and water beetles. In my opinion, if the
rods were longer and sterdier, we would be able to catch more different species that
swim deeper in the lake. We then took a small amount of the different species and
observed them under a microscope.
References-
Encyclopedia Britannica. 2020. Water Boatman | Insect. [online] Available at:
<https://www.britannica.com/animal/water-boatman> [Accessed 15 March
2020].
<https://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/animals/fishes/eastern-gambusia-
gambusia-holbrooki-girard-1859/> [Accessed 15 March 2020].