OHHS Microclimate Project

Students work in groups to gather data (abiotic and biotic) about several sites on the OHHS campus.

Student responsibilities

1. Each student will record each day's data in their journal.
2. Each data point will include who made the measurement.
3. Students will rotate measurements so that each student will have made two temperature, wind speed, and RH measurements.
4. Observations will be collated and presented in a poster.

Sites

The instructor may elect to change sites depending on class size and supervision issues.

1. Courtyard Shrubs - shrubs located by the west locker bay.
2. Courtyard Clearing - open area by the hexagon planter.
3. Ditch - the drainage ditch located at the B-wing parking lot.
4. East Grove - the cluster of Douglas firs located at the SE end of D-wing
5. Mounds - the disturbed site north of C-wing.
6. Playing Field - the playing field at the west end of B-wing.
7. West Grove - the cluster of Douglas firs located at the SW end of B-wing

Abiotic Data

More measurements are added as activity progresses. There will be about seven data measurement days.

1. Location - relative to campus landmarks and GPS coordinates.
2. Description -
3. Air temperature - using the CBL.
4. Soil temperature - measured 5 cm beneath the surface using the CBL.
5. Relative Humidity - measured using sling psychrometers.
6. Wind speed - using Beaufort scale.
7. Ultraviolet light - absence/presence measurement using UV beads.
8. Light levels - using the CBL.
9. Air pollution - using petroleum jelly-coated index cards.
10. Soil Nutrients - for Nitrogen, using commercial Gardener soil test kits.
11. Water pH - from soil sample.
12. Soil percolation - using hole dug for soil sample.
13. Aerial view - sketch of test site.

Biotic Data

1. Species count
2. Population estimates