Freshwater Ecosystems & Water Testing, Climate Change

Last week the kids and I went to Quail Lake. 

I hadn't been there in 10+ years and my kids never. 

We went for fun but to also start my water lab. 

We first took the temperature of the water and then checked the turbidity of the water. It showed 40 JTU which is the amount of particles in the water which makes it look cloudy in our container.

Next I checked the oxygen. It came to 4ppm which is how much oxygen is found in the water. 

While I was busy doing my lab the two little's stayed next to me. They had both been in the water playing until Brayden asked if there were snakes in the water. I had replied probably and he quickly jumped out. They spent their time playing in the rocks and trying to build towers with them. 

The funny part is as we were leaving this guy came slithering towards us. Glad we left when we did. Brayden has been telling everyone he saw a real life King Cobra! I think it's time to check out a book about snakes from the library. 

When we got home we started our coliform test which will take 48 hours until we see the results.  

This picture shows the results for the oxygen, nitrate and phosphorus tests. All in that order. 

Here's the pH test

and the coliform test.

So what does all this mean?

Here's a chart that shows whether the results are a good or bad thing. 

Only the coliform tested poor. This means that there are feces from man and warm blooded animals in the water which is to be expected in this kind of environment. Another test could be done to determine the amount of coliform such as e-coli. If there were too much the Lake could be closed due to contamination. This would effect the fish and other living organisms around. The pH scored an excellent reading. This means there are NOT a lot of dumping of chemicals in the water. It also means that the vegetation and organic material around are helping to keep the pH in excellent standing. 

Water Lab part 2.

Summary; Quail Lake is in pretty good standing. Only one of the tests scored poor which was expected. Seems as if the Nitrate could be better but if it had too much it could lead to an increase in plant growth and effect the type of plant and animals that live in and around the water. Seems like mother nature with the help of the organization over Quail Lake is doing their jobs. 

Reaction; Although I have mentioned several times the poor result of the coliform was expected it still kind of grosses me out. To think these two sweeties were swimming and playing around in such bacteria. I'm pretty sure there was some water that was ingested. Nasty! 

Ignorance can sometimes be bliss!

If the coliform was too high I'm pretty sure the Lake would be closed. No one would be fishing or swimming. I am glad to see all the good about the lake shown from the tests. This was our first time at Quail Lake and we will definitely be going back.  

Lab 2 Climate Change

Greenfreeze and SolarChill by Greenpeace

1. The main topic of this video is about a company who came up with a climate friendly refrigerator that can be used anywhere in the world. It was first developed for industrial countries like ourselfs and then later modified for use in 3rd world countries.

2. 10 main points that the narrator addresses are as follows;

    a. In the 1990's all refrigerators used ozone depleting chemicals.

    b.The next generation of refrigerators were thought to be better for our world but soon discovered  

       that the chemicals that were being used was now causing greenhouse gasses effecting the ozone. 

    c.Greenpeace needed to find natural substances to better the refrigeration system.

    d.Scientist found that a mix of butane and propane didn't destroy the ozone or contribute to            

       global warming.

    e.Greenpeace discovered an environmentally friendly fridge.

    f.Industries don't always know what the public wants

    g.One third of all refrigerators are "greenfreeze".

    h.Greenfreeze has spared earth 450,000,000 tones of carbon dioxide.

    i.In 2001 Greenfreeze began their "Solar Chill" project. This fridge runs off of solar panels which         allows is to be used without batteries and in remote villages.  

    j.There are workable solutions to climate change. 

3.Describe 2 solutions for climate change addressed in the video.

   a. One of the solutions was that when there was a problem something needed to be done about it.   

      These particular people weren't alright with the outcome of the different fridge systems. They  

      were determined to make something climate friendly. When they finally thought they did have a         solution it was taken to the industry and turned down. They didn't give up. They went ahead and  

      took it to the public to discover that it was something people wanted. The point is not everyone  

      supported them, not everyone thought Greenfreeze could do it. But they kept trying and became  

      successful.

  b. Another solution was that Greenfreeze didn't stop. They had found a solution for people who  

      lived in an industrial society and had easy access to electricity. Greenfreeze wanted to find a  

      solution to help everyone. So they made a solar panel fridge that will benefit 3rd world countries,       villages, and people who don't have access to electricity.    

4.Explain how climate change is related to extinction.

  Rising warmer temperatures are changing our weather. Vegetation can be very temperamental to    

  this change. There our some specie of plants that can not survive in warmer climates. As this  

  vegetation dies off and becomes extinct it effects the next domino in the chain. The specie that  

  relied on that vegetation. This new specie may have to relocate to a new habitat for food and  

  protection. If the new habitat can't sustain them they too will die. If the specie had to relocate it will   effect the next specie that relied on it. It's one big domino effect. One specie directly interacts and is   needed for the next. When one is removed a change will have happen and can lead to extinction.  

5.Does knowing something about history of climate change policy help think critically about this  

   topic?

   Ignorance is not always bliss. When I learn something new I try to corporate it into my daily life.  

   Personally I have started to think about my habits and how what I do effects our climate and earth. I    want to better myself so that generations from now there is still a world for them. I want to become    more energy efficient. We are about to build a home and I would really like to look into solar     

   panels to help produce "green" energy for our way of life. I want to start recycling more. I want to      buy 3 different garbage cans and use them for my recycling. One for paper, plastic and glass.