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By KATHY STEELE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 5, 2007

LOWRY PARK - An air bubble or two in the dissolved oxygen can make for a bad water quality test. But mistakes are not a problem.

"It's alright," Middleton High School science teacher Lisa Culberson said. "That's how we learn."

On a recent field trip to Lowry Park, 25 Middleton students got hands-on experience with three methods of water quality testing. They evaluated each for accuracy, convenience and suitability for testing the Hillsborough River.

Their work in this Advanced Placement course earns school credit but also helps the Stream Water Watch Program. Hillsborough County recruits individuals and groups to monitor stream segments, with training support from the Plant City campus of Hillsborough Community College.

The Middleton students' data also are given to the Southwest Florida Water Management District, or Swiftmud, which provides support and some of the students' testing kits.

This is the fifth year for Middleton's environmental science magnet program but the first year the school has offered the AP course. Students will conduct a yearlong study of the river's water quality through routine checks at Lowry and Rivercrest parks.

Students hauled up water in yellow buckets last week to check for dissolved oxygen, nitrate and phosphate, as well as pH, air and water temperatures, and salinity. In teams of three or four, they used test tubes, chemicals, eye droppers, Secchi disks and refractometers.

The small amounts of chemicals used in testing were dumped inside plastic bags of kitty litter.

With experiments completed, students walked the riverbank to pick up trash.

"We should leave it cleaner than we find it," Culberson said.

The data are provided to Swiftmud, and Culberson said the state agency will do its own testing if students find anything unusual.

"They haven't made those determinations," she said.

The recent trip was the second for the group, with additional visits planned through May.

The expanded course, and the link to the Stream Water program, grew from a Lowry Park Zoo grant more than two years ago. Culberson said the zoo provided equipment and volunteer supervisors from the University of South Florida.

The collection points at the Lowry Park boat ramp and Rivercrest are within three miles of Middleton.

"I wanted to let the students see they lived close to the river," Culberson said.

Devin Bennett, 18, has helped with water testing from the program's start. On one trip to Rivercrest, he spotted three dolphins and has also seen a stingray.

"The river seems pretty clear," Bennett said, with the worst pollution from trash.

As the magnet program has grown, students from across the county have enrolled. Many are interested mainly in the AP credits, Culberson said, but for a few, a science career is in their future.

"Hopefully, whether or not they come with this interest, they'll leave with this interest, which is my goal," she said.

Once students become familiar with the equipment, Culberson said the next step is identifying causes of pollution.

Laurel Corrao, 17, has a passion for animals but isn't sure she wants to be a veterinarian. As a scientist, "this would indirectly help them," she said.

Ryan Alway, 18, and classmates Panit Patel and Joey Wolfson, both 17, flung a black and white Secchi disk into the river, watching as it sank out of sight. That was the signal to pull on the rope, haul in the disk and measure how far it dropped before vanishing.

About 30 inches, Patel said. For today, at least, the river seemed fairly clear.

Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 835-2103 or ksteele@tampatrib.com.

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