On Thursday, April 28, 2011 I conducted my first research study on the water quality at Highland Lake in Columbia Heights, MN. I measured the temperature at multiple locations around the lake along with my other classmates. The weather conditions were cold and rainy with an air temperature of 41 degrees farenheit. The water was observed to be relatively clear with a greenish hue. Many forms of bird were observed including geese, ducks, and an occasional seagull. There were 12 possible sites that Mr. Jetton's class measured during the day shown in this map. My group chose to measure sites 1 and 12 to compare the temperature from one side of the lake to another. Temperature is a way of measuring water quality because if you have large changes in temperature from one site to another (usually in less than a mile) it can be indicative of thermal pollution. Our average measurements were consistent with that of the other measurements taken by our class in that we had an average of 6.5 degrees Celsius at site 1 and 5.3 degrees Celsius at site 12. This was an overall change of 1.2 degrees Celsius from one side of the lake to another. According to the chart for temperature water quality, this is pretty high quality water. However, in Minnesota, all water would be high quality because it all would start out cold. A more accurate representation of the quality of the water in Highland lake would be in June or July when it has had a chance to warm up significantly.
