Rehoboth Elementary scientists study Silver Lake
Silver Lake is healthy, according to research conducted by Rehoboth Elementary students during a June 6 workshop sponsored by Save Our Lakes Alliance3 and led by Envirotech Environmental Consulting.
Under the direction of Envirotech President Todd Fritchman, fifth-graders compared and contrasted animals found in the known sample from Silver Lake and an unknown sample to learn how energy flows through an ecosystem.
Students identified frogs, tadpoles, water boatmen, dragonfly nymphs, univalve molluscs, water beetles, crayfish and mayfly larvae.
“A mayfly larvae is the most sensitive critter of all,” Fritchman said. “So if they’re there, that tells you that your water quality is top notch because they’re so sensitive to dissolved oxygen, chemicals and everything that runs off the land.”
At the conclusion of the lesson, Frichtman told students they are now junior scientists and he expects to see them working in the laboratory or the field.
SOLA3 is a nonprofit volunteer organization that works to protect, preserve and maintain Silver Lake as well as nearby Lake Gerar and Lake Comegys. Learn more at www.sola3.org.
