Fall 2010

Also as part of my Science, Research and Technology III class, I designed and created with a partner, Rachel Bour, a device that measured the water depth of a creek while allowing the user to spend minimal time in the water.

The device did not successfully measure the water depth of a creek but it was able to measure the depth of a small pond as shown in the video.

The device consists of a foam board that is part of a loop of rope. The rope goes over two pulleys which are secured by three iron rebar rods on each side of the body of water. On the foam board, there is a Styrofoam box on the back which houses a Vernier LabQuest. The LabQuest is connected to a flow rate monitor at the front of the foam board. The flow rate monitor measured the velocity of the water flow and was supported by two pieces of wood. Strings were attached to the wood which allowed the user to adjust the height of the flow rate monitor. Along the center of the foam is a PVC pipe. There are small holes that go through the PVC pipe and the foam. One end of a long piece of string went was held by the user while the other end went through the holes in the PVC pipe and foam. The end that that went through the apparatus had a fishing weight attached to it. The user could easily lower the fishing weight until it hit the bottom of the body of water. Markings on the string indicated to the user the water depth.