Stream Side Science Supply List by Week
The following supplies will be provided to students upon registration.
- Stream Side Science by Nancy Mesner and Andree' Walker
- Field Manual for Water Quality Monitoring by Mark K. Mitchell and William B. Stapp
- Coliscan Easygel coliform/E.coli bacteria testing kit, 6 per student
- Key to macroinvertebrates
The following is a complete list of supplies needed for the course. Unless “SUPPLIED” is noted next to item, students will be responsible for obtaining all supplies listed below.
Week 1 - Where’s the Water? Who Shares the Water? What’s this Water all About?
- 50' measuring tape (SUPPLIED)
- Globe or world map
- Water container large enough for 10 L
- 6 small clear containers (e.g., pint jars)
- Graduated cylinder
- Eye dropper
- Meter stick
- Stop watch or watch with second hand
- Tennis ball or plastic pop bottle with lid
- Rubber boots or waders
- Digital camera
Week 2. Rules for Safe Sampling, Qualitative v. Quantitative, Abiotic Characterization
- Turbidity tube (SUPPLIED)
- Field thermometer (SUPPLIED)
- Electrical conductivity or total dissolved solids meter (SUPPLIED)
- Filter paper, 40-50 µm, ~11 cm diameter (SUPPLIED)
- Funnel - ~12 cm diameter (SUPPLIED)
- Beaker - 1 L or larger (SUPPLIED)
- Bucket with 20' piece of rope or cord
- Clip board
- Oven - please track this down ahead of time, if possible.
- Scale - capable of measuring milligrams
- Digital camera
Week 3. Chemistry of Water, Nutrients, pH, and Acidity
- Nitrate kit (SUPPLIED)
- pH test kit (SUPPLIED)
- Phosphorus test kit (SUPPLIED)
- Clip board
- Plastic water bottles for collecting samples
- Digital camera
Week 4. Life-sustaining Dissolved Oxygen, Temperature’s Effect on Oxygen, Biochemical Oxygen Demand
- Dissolved oxygen kit (SUPPLIED)
- Field thermometer (SUPPLIED)
- Clip board
- Digital camera
Week 5. Microscopic Biological Indicators of Water Quality
- Coliscan Easygel coliform/E. coli bacteria testing kit (SUPLLIED)
- Magnifying glass (SUPPLIED)
- Petri dish (SUPLLIED)
- Microscope
- Digital camera
Week 6. Macroscopic Life in the Water, Pollution Tolerance Indexing, Macro-invertebrate Characterizations
- Plastic petri dishes (SUPPLIED)
- Magnifying glass (SUPPLIED)
- Key to macroinvertebrates (SUPPLIED)
- D-frame dip net or 1m 2 kick net (SUPPLIED)
- Transfer pipette (SUPPLIED)
- Clear specimen bottles with caps
- Plastic pans
- Waders
- Clipboards
- Digital camera
Week 7. Culmination of Water Quality Monitoring - Water Quality Indexing and Biodiversity
- 100' measuring tape (SUPPLIED)
- Flagging
- Meter stick
- Key to local riparian plants
- Ocular tubes with instructions
- Clipboards
- Digital camera
Week 8. Double Checking Numbers, Significant Digits, Data Presentation, Final Assessment
- No additional equipment needed.
