HOLLIS – Students at Hollis Montessori Middle School gained unique
experiences and faced some interesting challenges in their study of water this fall.

Their study focused on Dunklee Pond, which lies in a large conservation area next to the school’s property. The students were tasked with completing an in-depth study of the pond, which included a complete chemical analysis of the water, a survey of plants and invertebrates living in the mud under the pond, a survey of plankton living in the water and a three-dimensional map of the pond showing depth.

Additionally, the students expressed their experiences with the pond through creative media, including watercolors, photographs and music.

To complete their study of the pond, students spent a significant amount of time in canoes on the pond and hiking around the shore collecting samples to analyze and identify back in the classroom.

The data gathered by the students will be delivered to the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services and used to update the state’s water-quality profile of the pond completed in 1992.

The DES is responsible for monitoring water quality in about 800 of the state’s largest lakes and ponds. To complete this work, the state relies heavily on volunteers.

Sara Steiner, coordinator of the state’s Volunteer Lake Assessment Program, met with students in early September to explain the importance of water-quality monitoring and then went out on the water with the students and their teachers to help train them on how to use the sampling equipment.

“The students had great interest in learning about water-quality monitoring and applying those skills and knowledge to assessing the health of Dunklee Pond,” Steiner said. “Their efforts will further our knowledge of Dunklee Pond and how it may have changed in the past 20 years. Kudos to the students and teachers.”

Students will use the data they collected, such as dissolved oxygen and plant type and abundance, to determine the trophic classification of the pond. The trophic status of a pond indicates the pond’s ability to support aquatic life. Human activity in a pond’s watershed, such as farming, industry and use of lawn fertilizer, can heavily influence its trophic status.

Throughout the experience, the students not only gained a thorough understanding of assessing the health of ponds and lakes, they also were able to give back to the community.

“I’ve learned that we influence the water’s outcome, and the water influences ours,” one student said.

Hollis Montessori Middle School serves students in grades 7-9. For more
information, visit hollis
montessori.org/middle-
school.