By Karen Rice
Official Kids Mag
The Secchi Day Science Fair on Beaver
Lake is back at Prairie Creek this year on
Saturday, August 21, 2021!
"Secchi" rhymes with Becky. But all kids
(not just ones named Becky) are invited to
come on out to the Lake to learn and have
fun in the sun.
But who or what is a Secchi? And what is
Secchi Day?
Father Pietro Angelo Secchi (1818-1878)
was a scientific advisor to the
Pope. He devised and used
something called a Secchi disk
for the first time in 1865. The
original disk was plain, white,
12 inches in diameter, and
used to measure water turbidity in bodies of
water. Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness
of a fluid caused by large numbers of
individual particles that are generally invisible
to the naked eye, like smoke in the air. The
measurement of turbidity is an important
test of water quality.
Father Secchi was asked by Commander
Claidi, the head of the papal navy, to test
the new water transparency device. The
instrument, now named the Secchi disk,
was first lowered from the Pope's steam
yacht, the "Immaculate Conception."
Today, the Secci disk is black and white. It
is lowered into a body of water. The Secchi
reading is the depth at which the
disk disappears completely from
view.
Since 2005, Beaver Water
District Secchi Day has been held
on the 3rd Saturday in August.
On that day, volunteers take
Secchi depth readings all over
Beaver Lake from boats, docks and
bridges to determine the overall
clarity or water quality of the water in the
lake. Two samples of lake water are also
collected at the Beaver Water District
Water Quality Lab. The date is compiled
and the results are posted on the Beaver
Water Discrict Secchi Day webpage:
https://bit.ly/3e897LO
hey Becky,
it's secchi day!
a watershed is the area of land
where rain, snow or irrigation
drain into a marsh, stream,
river, lake, or groundwater.
for example all of the land
that drains water into beaver
lake is called the beaver lake
Watershed.
Do it all y'all!
Here are some of the fun activities
and exhibits to choose from!
• Beaver Lake & Watershed
• Bottom Dwelling Creek Critters
(also known as a.k.a. Aquatic
Benthic Macroinvertebrates)
• Dan Skoff/KNWA Chief
Meteorologist
• Fake Lakes (Reservoirs)
• Fire Fighters & Trucks
• Fossils
• Furs
• Native Plants & Animals (Good)
• Invasive Plants & Animals (Bad)
• Secchi Disk Dipping
• Art & Culture of the Pacific
Marshall Islands
• Water Fun Facts Songs in
English & Spanish
• Drinks, Ice Cream, & Snacks
• DOOR PRIZES & More
see more secchi day
fun on page 46
secchi
disk
44 • august 2021 • www.of f icialKidsMag.com
