Schalmont’s Riverwatch Club tested the health of a local stream Thursday morning during a field trip to Pattersonville!
High School students visited the Sandseakill where they measured physical aspects of the water (including speed and depth), water chemistry (such as dissolved oxygen), and searched for aquatic invertebrates (small animals living in the stream).
Students compared water samples from the stream above and below a NYS Thruway overpass to determine whether runoff from the highway affected the stream’s health.
Science Teacher Mr. Labuda explained students were conducting the same type of tests that the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation does on tributaries like the Sandseakill, which feeds into the Mohawk River.
