Rowing on the Bronx River

The Harbor School went to the Bronx River and rowed boats that were made by Rocking the Boat's aftershool program.

Rocking the Boat

We were with Rocking the Boat in the Bronx River. A guy called Seth
was showing us a chart of the Bronx River and our positions on the boats.
Then we put our PFDs on for our safety on the river. We did water quality
testing in the river and rowed a lot (I think that I pulled a muscle
rowing, so I became the captain because I'm better at paddling).
To say the truth, we were very hot and sticky that day because the sun
was hitting us a lot, so we didn't have so much fun. What was
pretty interesting was that it was the cleanest body of water we
have seen in New York so far. Ann was looking for an Invasive
Japanese crab and found one. It looked muddy because it was
on a muddy sort of land.

Where the Bronx River is Located and Some Interesting Facts

The Bronx River is located in the Bronx and it goes all the way upstate. It is 23 miles long. The source inserts fresh water which travels all the way down the river. By the time it gets to the bottom it's brackish water. The river flows into the brackish waters of the East River.



Check out theThe Bronx River Alliance

Bronx River Map

Bronx River : The size, source, and the body of water it flows into and facts

The Bronx River is home to restoration projects trying to clean it up so marine life would come back. One group doing this resortation is Rocking the Boat. They examine the water and try to keep it clean and improve the water.The sorce is of the Bronx river is at the the Kensico reservoir. The bronx river is 23 miles long and flows into the east river. Around the 1700's 12 mills that produce flower, paper, potter, tapstries,barrels and snuff were powered by the river. In the 1820's people discussed ways to get the water for drinking, then railroads were constructed and sewage was dumped in the river. When they dumped garbage into the water they made the it worse.

dwayne a.mclean

ISAIAS' STORY OF THE BX

IT WAS INTERESTING BECAUSE WE GOT TO GO ROWING. I REALLY ENJOYED IT BEACAUSE WE GOT SOME HANDS ON WORK. WE ALSO CAUGHT A JELLYFISH. I WANTED TO TOUCH IT BUT, THEY TOLD NO BECAUSE IT COULD HAVE STUNG ME. IT WAS A VERY HOT DAY. WE CAUGHT SOME SMALL FISH IN THE FISH TRAPS. WE HELPED THE CREW LOAD AND UNLOAD THE BOATS UNTO THE RIVER. THEN WE ALSO GOT IN TROUBLE FOR TOSSING ROCKS AT EACH OTHER. IT WAS MAINLY ME. YES, I CONFESS IT WAS ME AND COUPLE OTHERS. WHEN WE ATE LUNCH IT WAS HOT BECAUSE OF THE SUN.

The BronxRiver Then And Now

Back in the 1800's the BronxRiver used to be runned by two Indian villages.Trains criss-crossed the Bronx River before it got it's name. The river was called Aquehung or, river of high blues. For a while in the 1840's the Bronx Valley turned into an industrial valley. It was used for producing paper, pottery, tapesties, barrels and stuff(powered by 12 Mills).

Recently me and my class just went on a trip to the BronxRiver. It's doing good but it still has the left overs from the industrial companies.In fact, some of the companies' buildings are still standing, but abondoned. When we went rowing it was relaxing especially since I was the captain of my boat. When we were rowing we saw facts of life today - an eagret and a duck. It's a good sign because that means that the river is get more cleaner - enough for a animal to live in the water.

There are restoration projects around the river.There is a program called Rocking the Boat. R.T.B is a program that allows students to test and tour the water.What they also do is have students build boats. They use these boats to go out rowing. Another thing that they do is try to see how the river is doing ,and by our recent trip, I can say that it is doing great.

A.P.

Some Other Interesting Facts About the Bronx River

Did you know that there is a program called the <Bronx River Alliance. They work on the river to protect, serve and restore the Bronx River.
At the Bronx River there were two cement factories. There was an abandonned cement factory and a working one. There are also recycling factories. There is a plastic recycling plant and a metal recycling plant.
RG

What We Did When We Got There...

When we got there we took water quality tests, rowed a boat, and saw a recycling factory. We also learned about charts from a man named Seth that works with Rocking The Boat. After listing to him explain charts of the Bronx River we ate lunch. That's when it really got warm. Next we loaded the boats into the water. After getting used to rowing we did the water quality tests. We checked the dissolved oxygen, salinity, turbidity, nitrates, ammonia, water temperature and air temperature. Dissolved oxygen is self-explanatory. It's the amount of oxygen in the water. Salinity is the amount of salt, turbidity is how deep you can see into the water. Nitrates levels lets us know how much sewage and other runoff pollution may be in the body of water. The recycling factory barges were blocked off, which is a good thing, because the fence prevents floatables from falling into the water. To find out more infomation about the New York Harbor School visit The New York Harbor School
This is Section 4 on the row boats looking at the recycling place
-Medina Lyons

What we learned from the bronx river

TheBronx River can be co mpared to other water bodies such as the Gowanus Canal. The Bronx River turns out to be the most growthful of the rivers. For instance, it has made an almost complete recovery from the pollution that has been plaguing the river for years. Many animals that were beileved to have left the river have returned, such as egrets .This means that fish have returned to the river and therefor there is enough DO (dissolved oxygen) for the fish to breathe. Among the many things we learned how to do was was how to the row. We disscused proper safety issues with the Rocking the Boat oganization they explained to us how to properly wear and use a PFD (Personal Floatation Device)as we proceeded we learned how to row safely and properly were one person rowed with two ores in the middle another steered with one in the back then up front we had our navigator who with a compass pinpointed our route on the river .They told us how the Bronx River was uncharted. We used a homemade chart to pinpoint our position. We also took tests of the water that included salinity, Dissolved oxygen, turbidity and nitrates. We took wind speed, air temperature and water temperature. We also described the weather on the water.All in all it was great day were we learned many things that will help us later in our lives.(http//photos14.flickr.com//5073150_5e23315abc_m.jpg

Benefits of making a trip to the Bronx River

The Bronx river has a lot of nature on it and there's alot of living things that will benefit from this body of water. This body of water has a lot of different critters, for example: The Japanese invasive crab you can find in places where there's alot of mud. The great egret is a skinny white bird and it stalks shallow water for fish. The Common Tern's colors are white, gray, and black. The Common Tern generally goes unnoticed until a splash draws attention to its head first dives into water to get fish. You could find these critters and alot more. The Bronx River has lots of grass and lots of trees. All these living things are extreamely happy to live in this body of water that is the Bronx.
Besides animals people could benefit from visiing this body of water. You could have a great relaxing time in this place. Some of the activities you could do are: Rowing on a nice summer day all over the bronx river and see all the different things that exist in this body of water, you could go with your family o make a picnic, play games, play with the water and enjoy the beutiful nature. You would really enjoy it and have a great time with your family and friends. For more information about activities on the Bronx River you can visit the Bronx River Pathway website.

The Day That We Went to the Bronx River

When the 9th graders in Section 4 of the New York Harbor School went to the Bronx river, they took the L train from Myrtle-Wyckff Ave. to Union Suqare-14th Street. They then took the 5 train to 125th street. After that they took the 6 train to Whitlock Ave. The weather was fairly good. It wasn't hot nor cold. There were partly cloudy, but sunny skies. When they first reached it was warm enough for them to take off their jackets. To learn more about the Bronx river vist BronxZoo

This it the area that we were in.
-Medina Lyons