Students learn about Carolina Bay water quality

It had rained most of the night and early Friday morning, but Millbrook Elementary School fourth-graders eagerly arrived at Aiken County Open Land Trust Carolina Bay, ready to collect data.

As always, teacher Karey Santos was holding court on water quality. She gave one student a test strip to determine pH, the water's acidity. He seemed ready to plunge right into Carolina Bay.

"You don't have to get into the water," she said as the kids laughed. "Just touch the strip to the surface."

The test strip showed that the bay water is quite acidic, and the children quickly guessed why. It's not just rainwater that falls into the bay, but leaves as well that bring Tannic acid with them.

Santos was joined by teacher Andrea Overcash, who took the students on a hike through the forest, and parent Mike Gibbons, who discussed aquatic biology.

Fourth-grader Christian Barr said he likes all the animals in the water and the plants. Madison Swearingen and Lois White said they like being in the woods.

"It's right here, close to Millbrook," said Lois. "It's like another world."

The girls took a water sample and found some bugs and baby fish, which delighted them. They also found a spider, which they did not like at all.

Another parent/volunteer, Randolph Pickett, accompanied his daughter, Kayla Mixon.

"I took my daughter to the Aiken State Park and did some exploring and saw some cool insects," Pickett said. "This experience is a lot like that, and it's right here in town. Kayla is very curious about things, and this is fun for her."

"Using their information, (the students) wrote essays," Santos said, "to compare and contrast the two different ecosystems - mixed deciduous forest and freshwater pond that make up this unique floodplain forest region."

Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.