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Math of the Great Dismal Swamp CD-ROM Production Project |
The Great Dismal Swamp, located in northeastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, is one of the most unique, natural wetlands of the world. The Great Dismal Swamp Boardwalk Hydrology Project at Elizabeth City State University began in the fall of 1996. Its purpose was to determine the quality of the water in the Great Dismal Swamp and to understand how and why the water quality changes. The data collected helped to explain the changes that take place with the swamp's water throughout the year in regard to water table pulsing, pH, nitrate nitrogen, phosphate, conductivity, and dissolved oxygen. Utilizing various software presentation packages, the multimedia team will develop software that will present the water quality research, history, and geography of the swamp in electronic format. This knowledge will then be used to draw students into interactive lessons in mathematics such as measuring and graphing based on the Principles and Standards for School Mathematics from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. The target audience for this software will be the classroom of the K-3rd grades and the delivery method will be via CD with web-based delivery to follow in the fall of 2002. |
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Boardwalk Hydorlogy Project
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The Dismal Swamp is one of the largest swamps in the United States covering approximately 750 square miles that encompass northeastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia. Some of its wildlife includes bears, snakes, foxes, turtles and a variety of birds. The Dismal Swamp is also home to many types of plants and trees, such as the bald cypress, black gum, and white cedar trees. The purpose of this Dismal Swamp Internship project was to collect some of this vegetation and document it. Besides collecting leaves and labeling some of the trees, we also collected some of the insects that live in the swamp. All of our collections were strictly done at only the sites of the Dismal Swamp and the Boardwalk, which is ECSU owned and located on a Naval Base in Chesapeake, VA. The project also called for the monitoring of water quality in the swamp and other water sites near the swamp. The two areas my part of the project dealt with were the sites of the College of the Albemarle (COA) in Elizabeth City, NC and a boat ramp in Old Trap, NC. While using special instruments, from these sites temperature, conductivity, salinity, ph, dissolved oxygen, and humidity were documented. Using this information graphs were composed using Microsoft Excel and the information was given to the Department of Geological and Environmental Science at Elizabeth City State University to use for further research in their Boardwalk Hydrology Project. |
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Globe Research Project Land, Air, &Water Investigations |
The 2002-2003 GLOBE Program Research Team at Elizabeth City State University in Elizabeth City, North Carolina will establish and monitor three environmental sites on the campus of ECSU. With these three established sites, the research team will collect and evaluate the obtained data, and create mathematical models to express the data both qualitatively and qualitatively.The research team will conduct investigations in the following areas, which are called GLOBE protocols: atmosphere, hydrology, soil, and land cover biology. For atmosphere investigations, we will record air temperature, minimum, and maximum temperatures from an instrument shelter. With respect to hydrology investigations, we will collect water samples from a creek located on the campus of Elizabeth City State University to conduct several experiments in addition to evaluating the water temperature. For soil investigation,we will collect soil samples and perform several experiments under this study in addition to measuring soil temperature. Finally, for land cover biology, we will use remote sensing equipment provided by the CERSER Research Center at ECSU to classify a small area of land on the Elizabeth City State University campus. Further, by collecting environmental data from around the campus that encompass these three domains, five pre-service mathematics teacher education students will gain a better understanding of Earth and its interrelated cycles which comprise an integrated system. The 2002-2003 GLOBE Program Research Team will also provide data that will enable scientists to study the earth's system. The GLOBE high school research team will utilize a variety of instrumentation and chemicals to conduct studies of the Earth's land, air, water and biology systems. Moreover, The 2002-2003 GLOBE Research Team will contribute their efforts to become efficient with the changes of the Earth system. |