Keeping Track of Our Neighbors

The 8th grade and freshman class at Mercer School once again participated in The Loon Project with the Iron County Land and Water Conservation Department. This project involves three field trips to local lakes, Fox Lake and Deer Lake. The first trip is focused on placing nesting platforms and collecting water quality data. The students took samples of water chemistry (pH levels), water temperature, dissolved oxygen, secci disk (water clarity), and macroinvertebrate sampling. Studying water quality helps students understand the healthiness of a lake. The next two trips will focus on checking platforms for eggs or chicks, collecting more water quality data, checking for chick survival, and removing platforms for winter.

Below find a slideshow of both Loon groups on their first day out on the water.

Over the weekend both Mercer and Hurley Wood and Water students participated in an Orphan bear research project through the University of Wisconsin Steven’s Point.  The project is looking at the survival rate of orphan bears that are raised in captivity and then release back into the wild.  One of the radio-collared bears traveled to Iron County, where it denned up for the winter.  Iron County students along with Iron County Land and Water Conservation Specialist Zach Wilson were fortunate enough to tag long for the recollaring of the animal. Mercer senior Zach Martin, shown in the picture above, served as the recorder of data for the process.