Sure I'd swim in that!!!

I started off the day with my "kids" from Cabell County in mind... "How can I make this material relevant?" or more... "Why should they care and how can I be the one to translate this experience into something that clicks."

Today's events made me take the roll of  the student as we tested water quality of two different locations, as we listened to Dr. Little and Steve explain some local history and area biodiversity and of course as I sat in a van along a VERY winding WV road. As that student I must say I am slowly piecing together an AHA moment for myself and frankly it was not at all what I thought I would take away from today.

I thought prior to this I was going to have the opportunity to teach my students about WV COAL and our history as a state using this experience as a resource while teaching about the science behind coal as an energy source. OF course I thought this (this was the surface value of the trip)...this is what I learned in 8th grade and this is exactly what I thought our students didn't understand which again is why I assumed we were on this trip.

Read on about today's events and then I will clarify WHY  I do not think this anymore and perhaps how I'm seeing my role to help make this click in our students futures and education!

We started off today at a Coal Spoil in  the abandoned Davis mining and timber fields. This is where we began our water samples for the day. The land there was beautiful, lush and in no way what I pictured an abandoned mine site to look like. Steve pointed out raindeer moss, blueberries and other plants that have grown without any human involvement. This impressive biodiversity was caused  as Dr. Little put it by bird poop.

After we got our testing material ready we were sent off in different testing directions. My group was given Yellow Creek. Our trail to the creek was an easy walk.     The stream was small but what stood out to all of us was how clear the water was.  Josh made the comment that this is the type of stream he would have taken a drink from. My thoughts were..."Sure I'd swim in that!" Knowing the location and actual reputation of YELLOW creek we were eager to test. (Thank goodness I brought my water boots!)

Check out those boots!

Our group worked really great together! We all had a role and began testing our different components. We tested two locations to find an average reading of our stream. The factors in our Water Quality profile were the temperature of the stream, the pH, the turbidity, the dissolved oxygen percentage, and the conductivity of any metals in the water. Shannon and Bekka to the rescue we calculated up our overall Water Quality to be around 63 which falls into the Medium or Average Water quality!

 This stream can vary with season but had a pH reading of 4.4!!!!!! It looks so clear yet cannot sustain life. So no thank you I will pass on that glass of water!

I will say it was reassuring though to find that there are a lot of natural healing processes going on around this site. We learned that the acidity here was not caused by pyrite but still at one time the levels were a major issue.

AHA moment part 1- The important men from Davis, Elkins and Thomas were some smart, successful businessman, who came into this area with an agenda and helped give our state a rich culture, a beautiful history, and a economic boom for their time.



Impressive I thought... but look whats left....So the question is, What now?



Onto LUNCH at Blackwater falls... Thank you Karen and Annette for another flawless meal!
And thank you Pat for teaching me how to take panoramic pictures!

Panoramic with the Tab!!

After lunch we drove along the old railroad bed from Davis into the location where the towns of Coketon and Douglas once thrived. This is the area where the coal was put into these beehive ovens (below) and shipped out on the railways for the steel companies in the north.

We actually stepped inside of here!

Swimming hole # 2
- Blackwater river.....
You can call it orange creek I'd understand.
AND NO I WOULD NOT SWIM IN THAT.

The water here was unreal!! The rocks were BRIGHT ORANGE and the murky color of the water reminded me of chalk. This time as we test water, I didn't WADE RIGHT IN as before... but I still was eager to get a reading to compare.  At this point I felt like our group were pros with our testings.
This area had a pH of 3.8!!!!!!!!!!!  the overall Quality we found was a 57.9 which is the lower end of a medium or average water sample.
The last thing on my mind was taking a swim in this water. I've never seen anything like this and I can't help but wonder if WV knows the true cause of this.

The green algae doesn't grow through photosynthesis but instead chemo-synthesis.

This shows the railroad remnants on the bank along with the MURKY water! This is where the limestone is dumped into the stream to treat the high level pH.

So here we have another site in WV that again supports and shows evdience to the historic reality of Coal in WV. This both impressive and humbling to know what thought and work went into this area as well as unsettling to know how quick we became a huge booming part of the world economy and how quickly is also disappeared. And this is what is left.... SO the question again (aha moment part 2) came to mind.. NOW WHAT?




As today ends I'm starting to feel inspired. As a teacher of the 21st century learner in today's classroom it's not ONLY or even mainly about focusing on the historic culture, economy and science of WV Coal... For me It's more about grabbing their attention with this sort of realistic evidence, helping them develop a strong respect and appreciation to the events that created this rich historic background and then... looking to them with their ideas, their education, and their skills and to say this is what is left... NOW WHAT?

So next thought for my day is,  how can I challenge my kids to explore this part of WV, to see what our history was and has left us, and to begin inspire them to turn it into that booming economy or cultural gem that it once was?