1. What is the final version of the question you are interested in asking?
    1. How does the water quality of bodies of water differ from park to park in NYC?
  2. List some keywords to use when searching for related scientific literature. Be specific!
    1. New York bodies of water
    2. Water quality
    3. Turbidity
    4. coliform/fecal
  3. Where will your data come from? Do you need to collect new data? Please describe.
    1. Old bioblitz data from nyc open data
      1. https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Health/DOHMH-Beach-Water-Quality-Data/2xir-kwzz
      2. https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Environment/Watershed-Water-Quality-Data/y43c-5n92
    2. We do not need to collect new data since the most recent data was from September of this year for the watershed water quality
  4. What will you be measuring or comparing? What are the dependent and independent variables?
    1. We will be comparing the water quality of bodies of water in NYC parks.
    2. Independent variable: water quality
    3. Dependent variable: location (park)
  5. Please make a list of your methods. If you are using existing BioBlitz data, you do not need to describe those data collection methods on this worksheet, but you do need to describe how you are extracting the relevant data from the entire BioBlitz data set.
    1. Since we are using old BioBlitz data, we will be combining different sets of data: one being the water quality of NYC beaches and then the data from the watershed water quality. Using these two, we will observe and record how water quality varies across different NYC parks and locations.
  6. Why is this question interesting to you? Why should others care about this topic?
    1. Water quality is an important factor in sustaining New York City’s natural wildlife and ecosystems.  Understanding differences in water quality between parks can help us to understand the health of different ecosystems across NYC.