West Virginia Trip

In West Virginia we conducted several standardized experiments that are typically seen during a normal field day in the class. To find out more about these tests refer to this website.The purpose of the West Virginia trip was to practice our testing protocol and to get an insight into the health of the rivers around the Durbin area. The most important takeaway we learned in West Virginia was how to conduct our experiments under time-sensitive conditions which at first was difficult for us. The biggest change in our routine was the improved speed, accuracy, and collection of the water samples.

 

Another purpose of this West Virginia trip was to successfully use Fathom with our collected data and practice calculating the p-value of the data. Before we left for the trip we researched the area and each pair of students developed an alternate hypothesis (Ha) and a null hypothesis (Ho) according to their researched findings. Our hypotheses were formed using two different creeks and one variable. If the p-value was less than or equal to 0.05 than the (Ho) was rejected and the (Ha) was accepted. An example of this can be seen below.

 

Ho: There is no difference between nitrates in Deer Creek and in East Greenbriar.

Ha: There is significant difference between nitrates in Deer Creek and in East Greenbriar.

 

The rivers we tested were East Greenbrier, West Greenbriar, Shavers Fork, Deer Creek, Greenbrier at Cass, Bullpasture, Deer Run, and Old House Run. The data from these creeks is available under the water data tab.