Day 1: Lentic

Words

We will start with an overview of water bodies in general:

Video: “Aquatic Biomes (Course Hero)” (6:10)

And then focus lakes, the typical lentic biome:

Video: “Lake Ecosystems (Rudy Rosen)” (7:46)

Lakes and ponds deal with two different environmental challenges that have been either created or exacerbated by humans: eutrophication and pollution.

Reading: “Eutrophication (OpenU)”

Reading: “Modelling Pollution in the Great Lakes (OpenU)”

Works

Either today or during some observation day during this course, travel to a pond or lake and conduct your observations there if possible. Sit and watch it move and interact with the surrounding landscape—look for organisms using the water, whether from within it or from the nearby air or land. Look for life around its edges. Enjoy it from within the water or floating on top of it if possible! This would be a good day to look for some kinds of organisms, such as minnows, freshwater mussels, crayfish, and insects that live on the water surface, that you might not yet have had a chance to observe.