Water on the Web

Internet data on water quality in Minnesota can serve as a basis for real-world science in classrooms all over the country.

Bruce H. Munson, George E. Host, Cynthia A. Hagley, and Richard P. Axler, University of Minnesota, Duluth

Thank you for the wonderful data and project.... This project puts symmetry on the year for us. They (the students) have to use the chemistry they know and some they don't know. They have to analyze data. They don't have obvious answers. I tell them I don't know. I tell them to tell me. They have to look at data and figure out how much is necessary. They really wanted to get to the data immediately. The focus and quiet as they delve into the data and resources are great.

-Ilona Rouda, Chemistry Teacher, The Blake School, Minneapolis, Minnesota

I found the Water on the Web site to be of great value and interest to the students.... It was a wonderful source of detailed information and provided the students with access to nearly real-time water quality data. I was able to use the information to devise very realistic problems for the students to work through and discuss.

-George W. Kipphut, Associate Professor, Murray State University, Kentucky

Any science teacher can use the Water on the Web site to help teach water concepts, from water characteristics to complex ecological interactions. It's the next best thing to taking your class to the lake every day of the year!

-Sue Hutchins, Biology Instructor, Itasca Community College, Grand Rapids, Minnesota

Water on the Web is amazing. It has so much to offer. When you are watching the dynamic nature of a lake using the WOW data visualization tools, it is like watching an organism breathe…The lessons and resource materials available through the web site make limnology accessible to all science teachers and students.

-Charles Goldman, Professor, University of California-Davis

These are responses of teachers who use Water on the Web (wow.nrri.umn.edu) an award-winning, Internet-based, science curriculum project initiated by funding from the National Science Foundation.

Composed of teachers and scientists, the Water on the Web development team is committed to encouraging students to learn real science through inquiry and hands-on experiences. At the same time, we recognize it is difficult for teachers to get their classes outdoors for field studies as often as they would like. Recent advances in technology provide us with an opportunity to bring water quality studies into secondary science classrooms on a continuing, near real-time basis.

An ever-increasing number of web sites provide science curriculum materials, but Water on the Web (WOW) is unique. It is a dynamic site that provides water quality data, advanced tools to analyze the data, curriculum materials for students and teachers, and a rich body of interpretive materials, web links, and supporting materials.

A Data Hose

The focus for WOW is a constant stream of near real-time water quality data provided through state-of-the-art environmental monitoring technologies. In fact, the scientists involved with the project refer to it not as a "data stream," but a "data hose." Teachers and students turn on the data hose and immediately connect with the real world and real scientific problems.

Students and teachers use the site in a variety of ways. Students learn and apply basic science concepts through directed study and inquiry lessons that complement their standard curricula. WOW resources serve as a launching point for self-directed student inquiry into the messy and unexpected water quality relationships found in real, complex environmental systems. Real-time remote sensing technology, GIS, data visualizations, computer-supported data management and analysis, and the Internet make the WOW site a complex, diverse, yet easy-to-use resource.

Remote Underwater Sampling Stations

The technology supporting WOW fascinates many students. The entire site is based on water quality measurements provided by Remote Underwater Sampling Stations (RUSS) units. (See Figure 1.) This patented, advanced-technology remote sensing system was developed at the Natural Resources Research Institute of the University of Minnesota, Duluth, in cooperation with a number of departmental and commercial partners. It is now produced commercially by Apprise Technologies, Inc.

Figure 1: Diagram of a Remote Underwater Sampling Station (RUSS).

The solar-powered RUSS gathers water quality measurements using a free-floating leveling device and sensor unit controlled by an on-board computer and communications package. The RUSS is programmed to sample at intervals in the water column, providing a water quality profile of the sampled lake. The data are then transmitted back through University of Minnesota computers and posted on the WOW site.

The RUSS units currently sample five critical water quality parameters: pH, conductivity, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and temperature. The data are stored in a variety of ways and can be accessed with a variety of tools, ranging from simple visual inspection of the raw data, to analysis by standard spreadsheet and statistical software, to advanced analytical and visualization tools.

RUSS units are currently deployed in four Minnesota lakes that represent a wide range in size, depth, seasonal dynamics, and other characteristics. (See Figure 2.)

Figure 2: Water on the Web currently provides water quality data from RUSS units in four Minnesota lakes.

Ice Lake is a small (16 ha area, 16 m depth) lake in a residential district of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Grindstone Lake is located in a rural area and is, in contrast, nearly 50 m deep and supports both warm- and cold-water fisheries. Three RUSS units are located in the suburban Minneapolis region, two in contrasting bays of Lake Minnetonka (thanks to a related grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency EMPACT program), and one in the largely agricultural watershed of Lake Independence. The differences in size and surrounding land use among these lakes provide a unique opportunity to compare and contrast fine-scale temporal dynamics in water quality variables.

WOW Data and Tools

WOW is based on real scientific data. Quality control protocols are used to monitor and maintain the quality of the WOW data. Unlike canned data sets created to support a curriculum, WOW data reflect the realities and complexities of real ecosystems. This means the data often do not fit students' or teachers' preconceived ideas of how a lake behaves.

WOW water quality data are provided in several different formats in the Data section of the web site. Raw data for a lake can be viewed in an archived data set. Weekly data sets can also be downloaded and reviewed in Excel workbooks, which also include graphing templates that assist students in plotting and understanding selected data.

However, for many students it is difficult to see and interpret patterns in numerical data. For this reason, WOW offers interactive data visualization tools. Some teachers use these tools to illustrate trends or relationships among the data. Other teachers have students explore the data using the visualization tools.

The color mapper is an example of one of the WOW visualization tools. The color mapper allows students to view a sequence of lake water quality profiles while exploring the possible relationships between two water quality variables. With this tool, students can see how a line plot superimposes on a color-coded profile.

For example, look at the color profile and plot in Figure 3. Notice how the color-coding reinforces the changes in temperature in the same region that the dissolved oxygen level is changing rapidly. If students understand that gas solubility increases as the temperature of water decreases, the color mapper raises questions for further inquiry.

Figure 3: Color mapper display of temperature and dissolved oxygen for a summer day in West Upper Bay of Lake Minnetonka, September 10, 1999 at 07:00 CDT. (Temperatures are color coded and a line plot identifies dissolved oxygen levels.)

Real Understanding

Students need background information and a context for understanding scientific data. WOW provides an extensive set of resources to aid students in this area. These resources can be found under the heading Understanding on the web site.

In The Lakes section of the web site, students find background information about each lake, its watershed, and its behavior during the period of sampling. This type of information is essential as students make predictions about lake behavior as they explore WOW data.

A Lake Ecology Primer is also included in this section of the site. This material provides a context for understanding water quality parameters and how they relate to each other. Lake ecology information is provided from physical, chemical, and biological perspectives. This important resource offers illustrations and links to other sites that help students grasp the science concepts that provide a basic understanding of lake ecology.

A complementary section describes the fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a computerized mapping technology that allows students to make relationships between activities that occur within a watershed (e.g., agricultural land use, commercial development) and water quality. The GIS resource section uses ESRI's Internet Map Server (IMS) technology to allow students to work interactively with maps through their Internet browser.

In a section called The RUSS, students are provided with an introduction to RUSS technology, WOW water quality measurements, reporting limits, and instrument accuracy. For students who are unfamiliar with water quality, a synopsis is presented for each RUSS measurement. The summary explains why the parameter is important, describes why there may be natural variations in the measurements of this parameter, and suggests how measurements of this parameter may be affected by human activities.

A glossary provides definitions of complex scientific terms. All glossary terms are linked to definitions throughout the web site. In addition, some terms are linked to pop-up explanations so students do not have to navigate to the glossary and then back to the text.

WOW Curriculum

WOW provides a growing collection of individual, yet integrated, lessons designed to enrich and enhance student learning in general science courses. The lessons are organized according to a sequence of six components-knowledge base, experimental design, data collection, data management and analysis, interpretation of results, and reporting results-that are critical to improving scientific and technological literacy. Using this format for scientific inquiry, teachers guide students through directed study or inquiry lessons depending on the students' abilities and the science curriculum.

Emailed notes and phone calls from teachers suggest that the WOW lessons and site are being used in a variety of ways. One teacher used a tutorial and lessons to help students learn and practice working with spreadsheets. Another teacher adapted a lesson on fish stocking to illustrate that organisms (fish populations) are limited by environmental factors. Three teachers used a lesson on data interpretation as a focus for students to carry out an inquiry project, resulting in scientific poster presentations. Other teachers choose ideas from the lessons and web site, then create their own lessons based on WOW data and resources.

WOW is Real

If you can't take your students to a lake every day, but you want them to do real science with real data, WOW may be the answer to your needs. Students enhance their knowledge of basic science concepts and their knowledge of the biological, chemical, and physical systems of lakes. They also develop and improve their skills in data analysis and interpretation, in using computer technologies, and in summarizing and presenting scientific information.

Through Water on the Web, science moves out of the classroom and becomes real. Students learn to apply reasoning skills to real-world issues as they work with the complexities of real scientific data.

Suggested Readings

Barrie, J.M. & Presti, D.E. (1996). The World Wide Web as an Instructional Tool. Science ), 371.

Franseth, S. & Poppe, B. (1996). Internet Activities Using Scientific Data (2nd ed.). Space Environmental Center Publication: ISBN-O-. Washington, DC: Department of Commerce/NOAA.

Lockard, J., Abrams, P.D., & Many, W.A. (1994). Microcomputers for Twenty-first Century Educators (3rd ed.). New York: HarperCollins.

Peterson, A. (1996). Research, Education, and America's Future. Science ), 159.

Riley, R.W. (1995-96, Winter). Connecting Classrooms, Computers, and Communities. Issues in Science and Technology, 49-52.

Rohwedder, W.J. and Alm, A. (1994). Using Computers in Environmental Education: Interactive Multimedia and Online Learning. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan School of Natural Resources.

Wolf, K. (1996). Real-time Monitoring Makes Progress on Web. US Water News 13(5): 16.

Bruce H. Munson is a teacher educator at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. A former secondary science teacher, he has worked with curriculum development and teacher enhancement programs for the past 20 years.

George E. Host, a computer modeler and data visualization expert, and Richard P. Axler, a research limnologist, are research scientists at the Natural Resources Research Institute at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

Cynthia A. Hagley has a research background in aquatic ecology and now works as an environmental educator for the MN Sea Grant Program at the University of Minnesota.

Water on the Web is supported, in part, through the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technology Education Program under grant # NSF/DUE 9752017. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

We also acknowledge support in part from the Environmental Protection Agency's EMPACT program, through our Lake Access project, an effort to bring RUSS data and interpretive information to the public. Lake Access is a partnership with the Suburban Hennepin Regional Park District.