THE IMPORTANCE OF FIELD TRIPS TO UNDERSTAND THE HYDROLOGIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A WETLAND AND A PRAIRIE

The objective of this project was to plan field trips, sampling, and necessary lab analysis associated with a newly offered hydrology course at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI). The new course titled “Field and Laboratory Methods in Hydrology” is designed for undergraduate as well as graduate students at UNI as a part of a successful CCLI grant from the NSF (DUE-0836325). The primary goal of this project was to take the students to multiple field trips and show the differences between the hydrology of a wetland and that of a prairie. Students took trips to the Cedar Hills Sand Prairie and the Beaver Valley Wetland, which are approximately 10 miles northwest of Cedar Falls, Iowa. This trip exposed them to unique hydrologic environments that are considerably different from the hydrology of the watershed around the area. Through hands-on activities, they learned that even though the natural water in the surrounding areas is negatively impacted by the agricultural practices, the prairie and the wetland are naturally protected from human abuse, and thus present a pristine aquatic environment. Nevertheless, the students found that there were differences in the way hydrology worked in these two natural settings. The students worked in teams to learn sampling methods, analyze water and soil samples, and then compile the data for accurate interpretation. In addition to the results of chemical analysis, the students used their visual inspection to define the prairie and the wetland in relation to the natural hydrologic drainage in the area. Going from the prairie, to the wetland, and then further down to the drainage system (the Cedar River), the students found a spatial gradient in water contamination (such as dissolved nitrate and Total Dissolved Solid) progressively increasing toward the river. A clear understanding of the above hydrologic units and their interrelationships would not be possible without the field trips that included visual observation as well as hands-on activities.