Collecting Data from Nonesuch Pond: A BioBuilders
Project
Rivers BioBuilders Club
This is the third year of the Rivers BioBuilder team. Our team consists of two returning members, Tyler Karp and Christopher Kim, and two new members, Evan Canty and Chelsea Yan. We also have Mr. Stewart Pierson as our returning advisor and Thomas Hyde as our BioBuilder ment or. Our group started off by pondering the different ways that we could collect data and how that would impact how our device is built, such as a net of sensors or just a buoy that would sit out on the lake. Going off our general idea, we then had to figure out how to make our device float while simultaneously making sure none of the technology gets damaged. We also needed to conduct some research on our own Nonesuch pond to decide what data to collect using our device. After completing all the above steps, we finally started programming.
Introduction and Background
In addition to adding beauty to our campus, Nonesuch
pond is used in a plethora of different ways year-round,
such as our school's fishing club during the year, pond
hockey during the winter, and the day camp over the
summer. Noting the pond’s importance to Rivers, our club
wanted to ensure that the pond remains healthy and
retains its beauty for years to come. Our club aimed to
develop a device that would automatically collect and
store water health data. By collecting samples, we could
easily see how activities like swimming or fishing
impacted the pond. We wanted to create something that
would inform others in a clear way and incentivize them
to help our environment or just be conscientious of
their impact on the environment.
Scientific Content
With an M0 Adalogger, we plan to collect various data from the pond, including temperature, pH, and turbidity. Currently, we are working on the temperature sensor. After that, we plan to build a floating device that periodically takes data from the pond throughout the day.
The parts of our project that we struggled with the most were getting Arduino, the M0 Adalogger, and the temperature sensor to communicate with one another. We also faced challenges in designing a waterproof system to ensure that the electronics remain dry and safe.
While our team was unable to complete this device, we had intended to address problems with the water quality of the pond after collecting the water data. We investigated how factors such as algae and E. coli can harm pond ecosystems.
Possible Next Steps
Something that we learned from this project is that electronics, especially sensors, are more complicated than we had previously thought. We think that adding more sensors would be a worthwhile next step in the project. Something like PH or salinity sensors in order to gather more informative data about the water ecosystem.