Friday, April 29, 2016

Episode 314 (5-2-16): Drinking Water Week


CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:58)

Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, photos, and additional information follow below.

All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 4-29-16.


TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of May 2, 2016.

This week, we start with several ordinary Virginia sounds that are so extraordinarily important they’re getting their own special week from May 1 to May 7. Have a listen for about 20 seconds.

SOUNDS – ~ 22 sec

Every day, Virginians and people throughout the United States depend on sounds like the ones you just heard—a faucet, a shower, filling a water bottle at a fountain, and water poured into a drinking glass.  As the recent drinking-water lead-contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan, has tragically underlined, having a safe and reliable product in our water pipes and faucets is vital for families, public health, and community well-being.  To increase awareness of the role of public water supplies, Drinking Water Week is held every year during the first week of May.  The initiative is organized by the American Water Works Association in cooperation with government agencies and local water suppliers.  Virginia participants in 2016 include the City of Charlottesville, Fairfax Water, and several others.  The theme for 2016 is “Your Water: To Know It is to Love It.” And there’s a lot you might want to know about your water!  Here are a few things to consider: Is the source groundwater or surface water? Who’s the water supplier? How does the supplier treat the water, measure its quality, and report the results?  And what laws and agencies regulate drinking water and its sources?  With all those aspects of drinking water and water supplies, every week could stand to have some drinking water awareness!

We close with part of “Second of May,” by The Steel Wheels of Harrisonburg, from the October 2014 “Live at Goose Creek” concert in Loudoun County.   Fitting for the date of this episode, and recorded in a concert honoring a Virginia stream and water source, the recording even includes the faint sounds of a thunderstorm—perhaps, someone’s future drinking water.  Thanks to The Steel Wheels for permission to use this music, and here’s to an informative Drinking Water Week.

MUSIC - ~ 23 sec

For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463. Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.   Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show.   In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

“Second of May” by The Steel Wheels is from the 2011 album “Live at Goose Creek,” recorded October 14, 2010, at Franklin Park Performing Arts Center, Purcellville, Va., and produced by Goose Creek Productions; used with permission of The Steel Wheels.  More information about The Steel Wheels is available online at http://www.thesteelwheels.com/.  “Riverside,” another selection from that Steel Wheels concert, was featured in Episode 286 (10-19-15), on Loudoun County’s Goose Creek.

Thanks to the Virginia Water Resources Research Center’s Spring 2016 intern, Taylor Richmond, for her help with this episode.

IMAGES

 American Water Works Association’s Drinking Water Week logo for 2016. Accessed online at http://www.awwa.org/resources-tools/public-affairs/public-affairs-events.aspx, 4/29/16.

Some historical perspective on drinking water and water supplies.
Upper photo: historic reservoir structure in Newbern (Pulaski County), June 22, 2013.
Lower photo: Historic spring house in Winchester, Va., March 24, 2008.

EXTRA FACTS NOT IN AUDIO

Drinking water is regulated under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, which in Virginia is administered by the Virginia Department of Health.  For more information, see Virginia Department of Health (VDH)/Office of Drinking Water, online at http://www.vdh.virginia.gov/odw/, or contact your local VDH office.

Water quality in surface water falls under the federal Clean Water Act (CWA), which in Virginia is administered primarily by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), although other agencies are also involved, including the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy in coal-mining areas of Virginia (see Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy/Division of Mined Land Reclamation, “Water Quality,” online at https://www.dmme.virginia.gov/DMLR/DmlrWaterQualityPage.shtml); the Virginia Marine Resources Commission in areas used for shellfishing or in other coastal fisheries; and the VDH in regulating beach closures.  Groundwater is not explicitly regulated by the CWA.  Other state and federal laws also have an impact on surface waters and groundwater.  For more information on the many DEQ programs and activities related to water, see Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, “Water/Resources and Links,” online at http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/ResourcesLinks.aspx.

Protection of groundwater that is a source for a public water supply is addressed in the Safe Drinking Water Act.   For more information, see VDH/Office of Drinking Water, “Source Water Protection Program,” online at http://www.vdh.virginia.gov/ODW/SourceWaterProtection.htm.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has federal oversight over state administration of the SDWA and CWA.  EPA information on the SDWA and CWA, respectively, is available online at https://www.epa.gov/sdwa and https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-clean-water-act.

SOURCES

Used for Audio

American Water Works Association, “Drinking Water Week/History,” online at http://www.awwa.org/resources-tools/public-affairs/public-affairs-events/drinking-water-week.aspx.

AWWA-Va. section, “Drinking Water Week,” online at http://www.vaawwa.org/resources/dww/.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Drinking Water/Public Water Systems” online at http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/public/index.html.

U.S. CDC, “Drinking Water Week Feature for 2015,” online at http://www.cdc.gov/Features/DrinkingWater/.

U.S. CDC, “Healthy Water/Drinking Water Week,” online at http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/observances/dww.html.

For More Information about Sources of Water in Virginia

“Water Resources of Virginia,” U.S. Geological Survey, online at http://va.water.usgs.gov/. This is the home page for the U.S. Geological Survey’s Virginia Water Science Center.

RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES

All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html). See particularly the “Community/Organizations” category for episodes related to function of various agencies; and the “Rivers, Streams, and Other Water Bodies” category for episodes related to specific watersheds and other water features.

Some episodes related to water supplies are the following:
Fix-a-Leak Week – Episode 307, 3/14/16.
Water supply planning - Episode 261, 4/13/15.
Winter precipitation and water supplies – Episode 258, 3/23/15.

SOLS INFORMATION FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS

This episode may help with the following Virginia’s 2010 Science Standards of Learning (SOLs):

Grades K-6 Earth Patterns, Cycles, and Change Theme
3.9 – Water cycle, including sources of water, energy driving water cycle, water essential for living things, and water limitations and conservation.

Grades K-6 Earth Resources Theme
4.9 - Va. natural resources, including watersheds, water resources, and organisms.

Grades K-6 Life Processes Theme
K.7 – basic needs and processes of plants and animals.
1.5 - animals’ basic needs and distinguishing characteristics.

Grades K-6 Living Systems Theme
6.7 - natural processes and human interactions that affect watershed systems; Va. watersheds, water bodies, and wetlands; and water monitoring.

Life Science Course
LS.11 - relationships between ecosystem dynamics and human activity.

Earth Science Course
ES.8 - influences by geologic processes and the activities of humans on freshwater resources, including identification of groundwater and major watershed systems in Virginia.

The episode may also help with the following Virginia 2008 Social Studies SOLs:

Civics and Economics Course
CE.9 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.

World Geography Course
WG.2 - how selected physical and ecological processes shape the Earth’s surface, including how humans influence their environment and are influenced by it.
WG.7 - types and significance of natural, human, and capital resources.

Government Course
GOVT.8 – state and local government organization and powers.

Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.

Friday, April 22, 2016

Episode 313 (4-25-16): Evaporating Water Helps Bees Turn Nectar into Honey


CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:30)

Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, photos, and additional information follow below.

All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 4-22-16.


TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of April 25, 2016.

SOUND – ~ 6 sec

Those buzzing sounds open an episode on a familiar winged, six-legged animal that relies on water evaporation in its feeding, life cycle, and home maintenance.  Have a listen for about 15 seconds to a large group of these creatures, and see if you know what they are.   And here’s a hint: this society runs on hard workers with a sweet side.

SOUND - ~ 15 sec

If you guessed honeybees, you’re right! You heard sounds from honeybee hives at a residence in Blacksburg, Va.  Honeybees in North America occur as many varieties of one non-native species that was introduced to this continent in the 1600s.  Honeybees are justifiably famous for their role as pollinators, joining many other native bee species in accounting for billions of dollars of value annually in pollination of food crops and other native and domesticated plants.  Honeybees are also well-known for living in colonies with a definite social structure, including a queen, drones, worker bees with different roles, and developing young.

Water evaporation plays a key role in the feeding of those young and in maintaining the colony’s temperature.  Producing honey to feed developing larvae requires foraging bees to gather nectar from various plants and then to evaporate a large percentage of water in the nectar to make a much more concentrated solution of water and sugar.  Bees accomplish this water evaporation by repeatedly moving regurgitated nectar over their tongue.  Meanwhile, bees and other hive insects use the heat-absorbing effect of water evaporation to keep hives from over-heating.  Water collected by foraging workers is placed in the hive, and then other workers fan their wings to increase evaporation, taking away heat in the water vapor.

Notable for pollination, honey, and social structure, honeybees also deserve a little buzz for demonstrating some fundamental chemistry and physics of water.

SOUND - ~ 5 sec

For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The bee sounds heard in this episode were recorded on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg on March 23, 2016, and April 20, 2016, and at honey bee hives in Blacksburg on April 21, 2016.  Thanks to Taylor Richmond and Stephen Schoenholtz for their help in recording sounds.

PHOTOS

Honeybee (Apis mellifera) on Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) in Hadley, Massachusetts, June 2010. Photo by Jamie Weliver, made available for public use by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library, online at http://digitalmedia.fws.gov, accessed 4-22-16.
Virginia Water Radio host Alan Raflo recording honeybee sounds in Blacksburg, Va., April 21, 2016.  Photo courtesy of Stephen Schoenholtz.

SOURCES USED IN AUDIO AND FOR MORE INFORMATION

Larry Connor, American Bee Journal Web site, “Beeswax” (August 1, 2015), online at http://americanbeejournal.com/beeswax/.

Eric Day, “Native and Solitary Bees in Virginia” (May 2015), online at https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/ENTO/ENTO-151/ENTO-151.html.

Iowa State University Department of Entomology, Bug Guide Web site, “Species Apis mellifera—Western Honey Bee” (March 2004), online at http://bugguide.net/node/view/3080.

Susan W. Nicholson, “Water homeostasis in bees, with the emphasis on sociality,” Journal of Experimental Biology, Vol. 212 (2009), pp. 429-434.

University of Florida Entomology and Nematology Department, Featured Creatures Web site, “European honey bee” (August 2013), online at http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/MISC/BEES/euro_honey_bee.htm.

Virginia Tech Insect ID Lab, “Identification of Bees and Wasps,” online at http://www.insectid.ento.vt.edu/insect-id/identify-pests/adult/bees/.

White House Office of the Press Secretary, “Fact Sheet: The Economic Challenge Posed by Declining Pollinator Populations” (June 20, 2014), online at https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/06/20/fact-sheet-economic-challenge-posed-declining-pollinator-populations.

RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES

All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).

Previous episodes on insects include the following:
Ants - Episode 271 (6/22/15);
Chironomids (non-biting midges) – Episode 268 (6/1/15);
Dragonflies and damselflies – EP119 (revisited; 8/3/15);
Mosquitoes – Episode 78 (9/5/11) and Episode 259 (3/30/15);
True bugs (in general) – Episode 237 (10/27/14);
True flies (in general) – Episode 221, (7/7/14);
Wasps – Episode 276 (7/27/15).

A previous episode on temperature regulation (including bee sounds) is Episode 309 (3-28-16).

SOLS INFORMATION FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS

This episode may support various Virginia’s 2010 Science Standards of Learning (SOLs), but the content level seems most appropriate for the following three.

Life Science Course
LS.6 – ecosystem interactions, including the water cycle, other cycles, flow of energy and matter, food webs.
LS.7 – population interactions, including competition, cooperation and social hierarchy.

Biology Course
BIO.4 – life functions (including metabolism and homeostasis) in different organism groups.

Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.

Friday, April 15, 2016

Episode 312 (4-18-16): Student's Research Digs into Streamside Soils, Rainfall Rates, and Greenhouse Gases


CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:52)

Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, photos, and additional information follow below.

All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 4-15-16.

TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of April 18, 2016.

This week, we feature another in a series of episodes on water research by Virginia students. To start, have a listen for about 15 seconds to these analytical-device mystery sounds, and see if you can guess what kind of atmospheric gases this device is designed to measure. And here’s a hint: what lets the light in but doesn’t let the heat out?

SOUNDS - ~15 sec

If you guessed, greenhouse gases, you’re right! You heard sounds from a special kind of spectrometer that uses lasers to measure levels of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, three key greenhouse gases—that is, gases that transmit solar radiation but absorb heat energy radiated back from the earth’s surface, similar to the way glass in a greenhouse works. Scientists studying current and predicted changes in the earth’s climate focus lots of attention on these greenhouse gases, particularly on their levels, sources, storage, and interactions with temperature and precipitation in ecosystems.

Soil ecosystems are one major area of scientific focus. For example, the American Society of Agronomy currently states, “Far too little is known about how management influences soil organic carbon accumulation and greenhouse gas emissions under a diversity of environmental conditions around the world.”

Potential effects on soil greenhouse gases from predicted changes in rainfall intensity—that is, the amount and timing of rainfall—were the focus of research by Tyler Weiglein, a 2015 graduate from Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech, and one of four Virginia students who received research grants in 2014 from the Virginia Water Resources Research Center. Let’s listen for about 50 seconds as Tyler describes his research methods.

GUEST VOICE - ~ 51 sec

“We’re here in the Water Quality Lab in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech. And right here is a Picarro Cavity Ring-down Spectrometer. It’s used to measure carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, three key greenhouse gases. And I used this for my undergraduate research to look at how rainfall frequency and magnitude would affect soil greenhouse gas emissions. Inside the chambers were soil samples that were taken from the Stroubles Creek floodplain, in Blacksburg, Va., near the Virginia Tech campus. And these soil samples were grouped together in treatment groups: each group received the same amount of water, but the timing and magnitude of the water additions was altered to simulate different storm intensities and different storm frequencies.”

By helping clarify possible impacts of rainfall intensity on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in streamside soils, Tyler’s work is part of much broader efforts in Virginia and worldwide to understand better the complicated interactions among climate, atmospheric gases, carbon, and the water cycle.

Thanks to Tyler Weiglein for lending his voice to this episode, and we close with sounds of two aspects of his research: stream flow at Tyler’s research site, and a heavy rainfall. But we’ll just have to imagine the sounds of interactions in the soil among water, organisms, and atmospheric gases!

SOUNDS - ~ 10 sec

For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463. Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show. In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Audio for this episode was recorded by Virginia Water Radio on April 13, 2016, at the water-quality lab of Virginia Tech’s Biological Systems Engineering Department, and at the Department’s StreamLab research site on Stroubles Creek in Blacksburg, Va.

PHOTOS



 


Photos of aspects of research by Tyler Weiglein on greenhouse gases in streamside soils. 1) Area of Stroubles Creek near Virginia Tech campus where soil was sampled. 2) Transect used to take sampled in streamside area; photo courtesty of Tyler Weiglein. 3) Example of a sample soil core; photo courtesy of Tyler Weiglein. 4) Model of computer screen display of spectrometer analyses of nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia, and water.

SOURCES USED IN AUDIO AND FOR MORE INFORMATION

American Society of Agronomy, Soil Carbon and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Community, online at https://www.agronomy.org/membership/communities/soil-carbon-and-greenhouse-gas-emissions.

Sabrina Kleinman, University of Arizona, “Soils and Climate Change” Mar. 6, 2015), online at http://articles.extension.org/pages/33725/soils-and-climate-change.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/National Centers for Environmental Information, “Greenhouse Gases,” online at https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/monitoring-references/faq/greenhouse-gases.php.

Picarro, Inc., “Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy,” online at http://www.picarro.com/technology/cavity_ring_down_spectroscopy; and “About Picarro,” at http://www.picarro.com/about.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “Draft Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2014” (February 2016), online at https://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/usinventoryreport.html.

U.S. EPA, “Overview of Greenhouse Gases,” online at https://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases.html.

RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES

All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html). See particularly the “Science” category.

Previous episodes on water research by students include the following:
Episode 259, 3-30-15: Red-winged Blackbird Research Follows Connections among Hormones, Avian Malaria, Aquatic Habitats, and Mercury.
Episode 280, 9-7-15: Oysters, Nitrogen, and the Chesapeake Bay – Part 2.
Episode 290, 11-16-15: Antibiotic Resistance Research Follows Genetic Trails in Watersheds.

Previous episodes on connections among air emissions, climate change, and water include the following:
EP230 – 9/8/14: An Introduction to Air Pollution and Water.
EP231 – 9/15/14: Exploring Climate Change Basics, with Examples from Assateague Island National Seashore and Shenandoah National Park.

SOLS INFORMATION FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS

This episode may help with the following Virginia’s 2010 Science Standards of Learning (SOLs):

Grades K-6 Matter Theme
6.6 – Properties of air (including pressure, temperature, and humidity) and structure/dynamics of earth’s atmosphere.

Life Science Course
LS. 10 - changes over time in ecosystems, communities, and populations, and factors affecting those changes.
LS.11 - relationships between ecosystem dynamics and human activity.

Earth Science Course
ES.11 – origin, evolution, and dynamics of the atmosphere, including human influences on climate.

Biology Course
BIO.8 - dynamic equilibria and interactions within populations, communities, and ecosystems; including nutrient cycling, succession, effects of natural events and human activities, and analysis of the flora, fauna, and microorganisms of Virginia ecosystems.

The episode may also help with the following Virginia 2008 Social Studies SOL:

World Geography Course
WG.2 - how selected physical and ecological processes shape the Earth’s surface, including how humans influence their environment and are influenced by it.

Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.

Friday, April 1, 2016

Episode 310 (4-4-16): Many Frogs are Green, But Some are Actually Green Frogs


 
Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, photos, and additional information follow below.

All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 4-1-16.


TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of April 4, 2016.

This week, we feature another mystery sound. Have a listen for about 20 seconds and see if you can guess what common amphibian is making the “thunk” sound. And here’s a hint: this animal’s looking for a mate, but NOT the famous Muppet Miss Piggy.

SOUNDS - 22 sec
If you guessed a Green Frog, you’re right! Despite the common name, this frog sometimes looks more brown than green, and some individuals may even appear blue! One of over 100 frog species in North America and 27 species in Virginia, Green Frogs are found throughout the Commonwealth and the eastern United States, inhabiting shorelines of streams, ponds, and lakes. In Virginia, they breed from May to mid-summer, and that’s when the sounds you heard are used for attracting mates and defending territory. If you happen to surprise a Green Frog, you might also hear a characteristic squeak that they make when jumping away from perceived danger. Green Frogs eat a variety of insects, crustaceans, fish, and other animals—indeed, according to one account from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, a Green Frog will eat any living thing it can capture and swallow! In turn, Green Frog eggs, tadpoles, and adults get eaten by various animals, including certain insects, fish, other frogs, reptiles, birds, and mammals, including humans.

Besides their place in food webs and other roles in nature and science, Green Frogs also play some beloved roles in art and culture. Kermit, the green Muppet frog, is famous, of course; but a more recent example is taking place this year in Blacksburg, Va. There, 16 Green Frog sculptures will mark a trail through the watershed of Stroubles Creek, a New River tributary. The creek and springs that feed it were important resources for founding the town in 1798, and the sculptures are intended to help educate 21st Century residents about the past and present of local water resources. The ceramic sculptures will be bronzed—just right, because a variety of Green Frog found in deep southern states is called the Bronze Frog.

We close with one more example of frog-inspired creativity: an instrumental version of “Five Green and Speckled Frogs,” a folk song used traditionally for teaching children to count. Thanks to Virginia musician Stewart Scales for this version; and don’t miss the Green Frog imitation at the end!

MUSIC - 23 sec

For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463. Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show. In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Green Frog calls heard in this episode were recorded by Virginia Water Radio in Blacksburg, Va., on May 30, 2015, and August 15, 2015; and in Leesburg, Va., on June 25, 2010.

“Five Green and Speckled Frogs” is a traditional folk song long used for children learning to count, according to the All Nursery Rhymes Web site, online at http://allnurseryrhymes.com/five-little-speckled-frogs/; and the Songs for Teaching Web site, online at http://www.songsforteaching.com/folk/fivegreenandspeckledfrogs-lyrics.php (the song lyrics and a vocal recording of the song are available there). The banjo-and-guitar version in this episode was recorded for Virginia Water Radio by Stewart Scales on March 31, 2016.

A shorter focus on the Green Frog was featured in Virginia Water Radio Episode 23, 7-5-10.  Audio for that episode has been archived.

PHOTOS



Green Frog in an artificial pond at a residence in Blacksburg, Va., April 29, 2007.


Two Green Frogs in a pond in Radford, Virginia, August 7, 2013.


SOURCES

Used in Audio

Mark A. Bee, Stephen A. Perrill, and Patrick C. Owen, “Male green frogs lower the pitch of acoustic signals in defense of territories: a possible dishonest signal of size?” Behavioral Ecology, Vol. 11, Issue, pp. 169-177, online at http://beheco.oxfordjournals.org/content/11/2/169.full (for VT access).

L. Hager-Smith, “16 Frogs: A public arts tribute to the history and freshwater heritage of Blacksburg, Virginia,” online at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/16-frogs/x/13699802#/.

Bernard S. Martof, et al., Amphibians and Reptiles of the Carolinas and Virginia, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1980.

Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Scientific And Standard English Names Of Amphibians And Reptiles Of North America North Of Mexico, Seventh Edition, 2012, available online at https://ssarherps.org/publications/north-american-checklist/.

Gregory K. Reid, Pond Life, Golden Press, New York, 1967.

U.S Geological Survey/Southeast Ecological Science Center, “Bronze Frog (Rana clamitans),” online at http://fl.biology.usgs.gov/herps/Frogs_and_Toads/R_clamitans/r_clamitans.html.

University of Michigan Biokids Web site, “Green Frog/Lithobates clamitans,” online at http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Lithobates_clamitans/.

Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and Lang Elliott/NatureSoundStudio, “The Calls of Virginia Frogs and Toads” CD, 2008; online at http://www.shopdgif.com/product.cfm?uid=1928838&context=&showInactive=N, or contact the Department at 4010 West Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23230; phone: (804) 367-1000 (VTDD); e-mail: dgifweb@dgif.virginia.gov.

Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, “Virginia is for Frogs” Web site, online at http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/virginia-is-for-frogs/.

Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Virginia Fish and Wildlife Information Service, online at http://www.vafwis.org/fwis/?Menu=Home.Species+Information (click here for direct link for Green Frog Species Booklet).

Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, “Wildlife Information/Species Information/Amphibians” online at http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/information/?t=1. Northern Green Frog entry online at: http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/information/?s=020008.

Herbert S. Zim and Hobart M. Smith, Reptiles and Amphibians, Golden Books, New York, 1987.

For More Information about Amphibians in Virginia and Elsewhere

Lang Elliott, Carl Gerhardt, and Carlos Davidson, The Frogs and Toads of North America, Houghton/Mifflin/Harcourt, Boston and New York, 2009.

John D. Kleopfer and Chris S. Hobson, A Guide to the Frogs and Toad of Virginia, Special Publication Number 3, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Richmond, 2011; purchase information available online at https://www.shopdgif.com.

J.C. Mitchell and K.K. Reay, Atlas of Amphibians and Reptiles in Virginia, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries/Richmond (1999); available online at http://www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com/Herp%20Atlases/Mitchell-Reay-Atlas.pdf, courtesy of the Virginia Herpetological Society. (Herpetology refers to the study of amphibians and reptiles.)

Virginia Herpetological Society, online at http://www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com/.

For More Information about the Stroubles Creek/New River Watershed

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “Surf Your Watershed,” online at http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/locate/index.cfm (this site allows users to locate watersheds and watershed information across the United States).

Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, “Virginia’s Major Watersheds,” online at http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/soil_and_water/wsheds.shtml; and “Hydrologic Unit Geography,” online at http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/soil_and_water/hu.shtml (the latter site provides detailed information on how watersheds are designated, plus access to interactive maps of Virginia’s watersheds).

RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES

All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html); see specifically the “Amphibians” category.

Green Frogs were also included in the following episode:
A Frog Medley, Episode 148, 2/11/13.

SOLS INFORMATION FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS

This episode may help with the following Virginia’s 2010 Science Standards of Learning (SOLs):

Grades K-6 Earth Resources Theme
4.9 - Va. natural resources, including watersheds, water resources, and organisms.

Grades K-6 Life Processes Theme
2.4 - life cycles.

Grades K-6 Living Systems Theme
2.5 - living things as part of a system, including habitats.
3.5 - food webs.
3.6 - ecosystems, communities, populations, shared resources.
4.5 - ecosystem interactions and human influences on ecosystem.
6.7 - natural processes and human interactions that affect watershed systems; Va. watersheds, water bodies, and wetlands; and water monitoring.

Life Science Course
LS. 4 - organisms’ classification based on features.
LS.6 - ecosystem interactions, including the water cycle, other cycles, and energy flow.
LS.8 - community and population interactions, including food webs, niches, symbiotic relationships.
LS.11 - relationships between ecosystem dynamics and human activity.

Earth Science Course
ES.8 - influences by geologic processes and the activities of humans on freshwater resources, including identification of groundwater and major watershed systems in Virginia.

Biology Course
BIO.8 - dynamic equilibria and interactions within populations, communities, and ecosystems; including nutrient cycling, succession, effects of natural events and human activities, and analysis of the flora, fauna, and microorganisms of Virginia ecosystems.

The episode may also help with the following Virginia 2008 Social Studies SOLs:

World Geography Course
WG.2 - how selected physical and ecological processes shape the Earth’s surface, including how humans influence their environment and are influenced by it.
WG.6 - past and present trends in human migration and cultural interaction as influenced by social, economic, political, and environmental factors.
WG.10 - cooperation among political jurisdictions to solve problems and settle disputes.

Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.