Today our homeschool group went on a field trip to Hop Brook Park in Middlebury, CT.  Hop Brook often has a problem with the beach being closed due to high bacteria levels, and today's field trip showed the kids what they were testing for, and why.  The lake is currently closed, so they tested samples for things such as E. Coli, nitrates, phosphate, oxygen saturation, temperature, and turbidity.  We also learned how to make water safe to drink if you are out in the wilderness by treating water in different ways (actually, the water was pre-treated), then testing for E. Coli.  Very enlightening... potable water tablets, filters, and boiling water for 3 minutes did not remove all of the harmful bacteria, and those samples tested as positive for E.Coli.  Boiling for 10 minutes removed the E. Coli from the water.  Just a tidbit to keep in mind next time you find yourself in the woods, thirsty, and with no water on hand. 

Here are some pics from our day:

Kids reading the directions for performing the tests:

..

Water tested positive for E. Coli (a negative sample would turn orange):

The water samples after being treated with tablets, boiling, and filters:

And last, our "unsocialized homeschoolers" playing in the field afterwards!