Water Filter Challange

Define

Our problem is simple but quite difficult to solve. We are acting as a water filtration company to make a filter to make provided waste water clean enough to be released back into the Pitt river. The challenge was to make a good filter only with the materials that were provided by Ms. Yorke.

To do this, groups would have to find what different combinations of materials could clean the water. There were materials such as Carbon rocks, Sand, Sponges and so on. To find the right combination, its just a process of trail and error.

Discover

There have been many different types of ways to filter water. However, most water filters consist of very small holes that only let water pass through, capturing any dirt or pieces in it. In the past there were lots of different ways such as boiling water. Boiling water in my opinion is the most popular and most common way of cleaning water as it is simple and easy to do.

A lot of designs in the past were based around using sand to filter out things like salt from salt water. These designs were called “Slow Sand Filters”. As the name suggests this did take a long process. The main idea was for there to be a purifying plant where water was put through a process involving gravel and sand. Following that process, the water would be distributed by horse around the land.

Of course, these designs got overtaken by much more advanced and sophisticated designs that improve on almost every aspect as its predecessor. As humanity advanced, we saw how important the filtration of water is for us and for the environment we live in. Thus, we started finding new ways to filter once a previous way became absolute.

Dream

We had many different ideas and opinions going into this challenge. I feel that it was a challenge of just trying to put all of our ideas into one prototype. Everyone in the group agreed on how the filter structure should look like. However, we were trying to make sure we put in materials that we all thought would make a difference. Once we had our basic idea down of how and what the layers would be like, we managed to draw up a picture of what we wanted.

We tested our materials with water to see how they would work to determine where they should be in the filter or whether to even include it at all. Our goal was to mainly filter out all the things in the water that you could see such as sticks in the first couple layers and then to focus on the quality of the water. We were hoping to perhaps change the clarity of the water which we did however just not as much as we wanted to. In the end, we managed to create a design that we figured could do a very good job in filtering the water enough to release into a river.

Deliver

As you can see in the photo, our filter was designed in layers. Each layer holds a different resource that contributes to the filtering of the waste water. The main structure of the bottle was the top of two 2L bottles cut out and flipped onto the bottom of a 2L bottle. Now, onto the layers!

First layer. In the first layer we but a ton of cotton to eliminate the big pieces from the waste water. Under that, its very hard to see but there is sand that is being held up by cheese cloth, separating it from the next layer. The purpose of this layer was to eliminate the big visible pieces.

Second layer. After passing through that soft first layer, the water now goes through the cheese cloth and into the carbon pebbles. The carbon pebbles are supposed to clean the water so that most of the dirt and other materials in the water are removed. However, in our testing we noticed that the water would get specs of the carbon in it so to add some clarity, we fit in a sponge as one of the last stages with a cap with holes to finish it off and transfer the water into the catchment.

This was the process:

Before filtering  

This is what the waste water looks like. Our goal was to make this water as clean as possible. Now this doesn’t look that bad because you’re just looking at it from a screen but the smell, it was HORRIBLE.

During Filtration

It is a little difficult to see however this is what happens as the water is being filtered. The big pieces get caught in that big cloud as it moves down the filter into the final layer where it gets cleaned.

After filtration

This is the final product. Now it may not look the best, but it is way better than how it started. The smell did remain however the color and clarity were greatly improved.

Debrief

Now not everything can be perfect. There will be things that could be improved and/or changed to make it better. I found that our filter functioned quite well in the sense of filtering the water to a very good level. I did expect the carbon to maybe filter the water a little more but maybe in the future with some adjustments that could be done very well.

I was a little disappointed with the product because I feel that maybe we could have made the water just a little bit clearer. If we did have a little more time, I feel that we could have made it close to perfect. However, I am very proud of what we could accomplish in the little time that we did have.

Overall, I feel that this project passed very well and I am looking forward to doing similar projects to this!

Bibliography

  1. “THE HISTORY OF CLEAN DRINKING WATER.” The History of Clean Drinking Water | APEC Water, www.freedrinkingwater.com/resource-history-of-clean-drinking-water.htm.
  2. “0510 Hyatt Pure Water Filter.” This Day in Water History, 10 May 2013, thisdayinwaterhistory.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/may-10/0510-hyatt-pure-water-filter/.
  3. Www.facebook.com/waterfilteranswers. “The History of Water Filters.” Water Filter Answers, 14 Aug. 2019, waterfilteranswers.com/history-water-filters/.

Chemical Change Lab

 

On the wednesday that just passed, we did a lab regarding a flame test of 2 reactants and the substance that is created when they are mixed. These 2 reactants were: Strontium Chloride and Sodium Carbonate.

What was the purpose of this lab:

The purpose was to observe chemicals being created by a chemical reaction and hypothesize what the resulting products will be.

Procedure: 

The first thing that we did was gather all our required equipment and make sure that we have everything that we need. Following that, we started to get our reactants by pouring them into a graduated cylinder at 10 ml. At the start of this lab, it was originally 25 ml but it was changed to 10 ml. These were not the original reactants that we were going to use, it changed before the lab started by Ms. Yorke.

 Equipment used in the lab ( Excluding Bunsen Burner)

Next step was to mix these 2 reactants with one another where we ended up with a white cloudy and powdery substance in the small beaker. Following the instructions, we poured this substance through a paper filter that would catch all the powder from the substance for the next part of the lab.

We then went over to our Bunsen burner to conduct flame tests involving all this substances and to observe the final results. For this part, we were going to use wooden sticks soaked in the substances but we changed that to inoculation loops because its not as flammable or dangerous. I personally wouldn’t give students any flammable objects for obvious reason but hey, if its fun, its worth it.

Flame tests/ Flame test results

Probably the most interesting part of the project because burning things is always fun. I swear I am not a pyromaniac. Anyways, we started off by burning the separate reactants by themselves, in this case we burned the Sodium Carbonate and then the Strontium Chloride. Both were in a powder like form. After which we burned the powdery substance that we had created from mixing them both and logged what colors the flames were. Strontium Chloride was a red color , Sodium Carbonate and the unknown substance were both orange. After that, we can deduce that the unknown substance possibly has more Sodium than Strontium, hence the color Orange instead of Red.

==

Sodium Carbonate===========Strontium Chloride==========Unknown Substance from mix

We saw that both the powder and the Sodium Carbonate had burned Orange, however, the Strontium Chloride burned Red which was a very interesting sight to see. The reason I believe it burned red was because Strontium is much more reactive with water and air than the other substances because of how far down it is in the Akali Earth metals so when it was exposed to the flame, we saw its reactivity. As for the other 2 , I stated before what we can deduce from the results to determine something about our unknown substance.

Mixing of solutions results

Going back in time to earlier in this post where when I mentioned the 2 reactants that we were using, I am going to talk about the proprieties that were in both of the reactants. I am also going to compare them.

Reactant A SrCl2: This is was Strontium Chloride

Color: None

Form: Liquid

Transparent?: Yes

Reactant B NaCO3  : This was Sodium Carbonate

Color: None

Form: Liquid 

Transparent?: Yes

They basically are the same in this situation but obviously there are different elements involved in each one.

Observations when mixing

After mixing both the substances together, we created a very cloudy or powdery substance as the reactant comes in contact with the other. We created one new property so we can say that this is evident that there was a chemical change because we ended up with something that wasn’t there in the first place.

Analysis

To elaborate EVEN FURTHER, yes I know there is a lot of elaborating on this but its the simplest way to learn so just bear with me here. The substance that we made from the 2 different reactants was a powdery substance and we filtered the powder out via filter. Based on our flame results and tests, I feel confident saying that the unknown substance was mostly just Sodium because of the fact that Sodium on its own makes a orange flame and the Unknown Substance did the exact same thing. We can see that they both have similar properties so I think its safe to say that the Unknown Substance was Sodium.

For the liquid that came through the filter, there is a chance that it could be chlorine because of one, the small and two, I feel that the Chlorine is the stronger substance and that there is more chlorine than there is Carbonate therefore the liquid result from the filter should just be Chlorine.

The moment the substances got in contact with each other, we can see that it mixed very quickly inferring that all the particles and elements got thrown around there being mixed up. Based on that there could be a chance that maybe Strontium Chloride Became Strontium Carbonate and Sodium Carbonate became Sodium Chloride.

IMG-1887

Conclusion

In conclusion, I think we did fulfill the purpose of the lab by observing and documenting what we saw and deducing our own ideas and thoughts based on the experience. I am going to make an educated hypothesis by saying I believe the powder that was made is (Na) Sodium and that the liquid that came out in the end from that was (Cl) Chlorine based on the evidence.

I really enjoyed this lab. I found it super interesting because we got to feel like real scientists doing an experiment to find out something that we never even knew could happen. For me at least it was a load of new concepts and experiences that I haven’t done before at all. I look forward to our next lab!

 

 

 

Climate/ Info Fluency

What can teens and young adolescents do to have a meaningful impact in the city of Vancouver against climate change?

Solution 1: Fundraising/ Voting for climate change

They could start more fundraisers and contributing to planting more trees. They could start campaigns where they plant a tree for an amount a money raised. Another very beneficial option is to fundraise for clean energy in you community such as wind turbines. It could really make more awareness all around the world, connecting people for a united approach to climate change. This solution can only be done if we have people working together and communicating. If there were people doing this in their communities where they’re is more of a chance that they could have an impact, it would influence the rest of the city and the other towns and communities to pursue clean energy. We can see this solution being used around the world with student strikes and programs that aim to plant as many trees as they can. This is a very key step to start and expand the impact of teens and adolescents or even future generations on climate change. Some young adolescents who have reached the age to vote could vote into parties or organizations that would put more money into climate change. If that were to happen, we would really start a big change in the climate situation around the provinces and country.

Solution 2: Less use of cars

As teens and young adolescents start to get their driving licenses, its important to know that cars also produce carbon emissions into our atmosphere. Cars have a decently negative impact on climate change and there is one way we can help with that. If you can, you can try to avoid driving as much as you can. Walking, biking and using your scooter are all really good ways of making and impact on climate change. It may not sound like a lot, but you can really inspire others to do what your doing. Before you know it, you’ll have your friends, family and your community walking or biking to school! Of course, for some people this wouldn’t be a viable option for them because of their circumstances so it could also help to maybe take the bus even though it does still produce carbon emissions, it carries more people at once than any conventional car would. Any bit of help that you can do really helps. Of course, some of you don’t own a car so it would make sense that you would disregard this as irrelevant to you, but you could inspire a friend or family member to use their car less. A lot of families depend on their car and I totally understand but it might be worth investing into an electric vehicle in the future. It would be a lot cheaper in the long run and it would be very clean, preserving our fragile environment.

Solution 3: Invest in renewable energy/ Volunteer

Even if you can’t buy solar panels, try to reduce your emissions in any way you can such as using electric bikes or scooters. You could invest in programs that aim to purchasing the renewable energy sources. It doesn’t need be a lot but even a small amount could have a meaningful impact. There are a bunch of places that anyone could volunteer at to help against climate change weather it is strikes, youth led movements, etc. Don’t ever be afraid to do your part. No one will judge you for caring about the future of mankind, its humanities biggest enemy. Don’t forget that you are not alone in this fight, like I said, there are tons of groups and organizations that are looking for people that want to help in anyway they can. Even volunteering with organizations that try to provide more water and food to different parts of the world is another way to help considering the food shortages and droughts happening all around the globe caused by the temperature change. Anything will help make a difference.

 

Bibliographies

  1. Atl, Vox. “4 Ways Teens Can Address Climate Change And Save The Environment Right Now.” 1 FM WABE, 17 Apr. 2019, www.wabe.org/4-ways-teens-can-address-climate-change-and-save-the-environment-right-now/.

  1. “Top 10 Things You Can Do about Climate Change.” David Suzuki Foundation, David Suzuki, 3 July 2018, davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/top-10-ways-can-stop-climate-change/.

  1. Shaftel, Holly. “The Effects of Climate Change.” NASA, NASA, 30 Sept. 2019, climate.nasa.gov/effects/.

  1. National Climate. “Menu.” National Climate Assessment, 2019, nca2014.globalchange.gov/report#section-1946.

 

 

Part 2:

 

  1. What questions did you need to research in order to research your topic?

What are the main causes of climate change?

What are some known causes of climate change that we could stop or reduce in a short amount of time?

What are some small things anyone could do against climate change?

What are some electric appliances that are eco friendly?

Are there volunteering options for the fight against climate change?

  1. What new or familiar digital tools did you try to use as you worked through this project?

I used EasyBib to cite all my references. I also did use google to find some points I could use to find my solutions and my questions that I asked. For this question, being a teen myself, a good amount of the information was me trying to figure out what I could do as well as other people my age.

  1. What was the process you used to investigate the topic?

I would gather my information from my sources and filter the key points. Once I had done that, I would verify my information with my other sources to see if it is credible. I would then put the information down in my own words without copying directly from the source.

  1. How did you verify and cite the information you found?

Once I squeezed out the points, I wanted to use from one source, I would check with my other sources to see if others have the same idea and if so it proves that the information was credible. I also did look at the websites to see if they were actual good sources and not anything someone random would write.

5.             How did the process of completing this challenge go? What could you have done better?
I honestly found this challenge a great learning opportunity for all of us because it really lets us learn what we could do to really have some sort of say in our future. However, I do think I could really improve in my time management in a way such as setting a specific time to do my research instead of just randomly starting it. Over all I felt very confident about my work and my information.

Science 9 Honors Field Study

Science 9 Field study

Up until this point in Science 9 Honors, we have researched about subjects such as the planet’s 4 spheres and its nutrient cycles. These topics that we researched are essential to the topic that we have recently picked up, the study of watersheds and invertebrates. Our goal in this study is to understand the living conditions in bodies of water such as ponds or rivers. In addition, we are also looking at the inhabitants of these bodies of water, invertebrates. Of course, they are not the only things that are found in the water, but they are our main research along with their environment. In this post, I am going to be explaining what we have done in Science 9 Honors up until now.

 

Water Quality

Comment on the water quality value of the pond; of the river
–> what do these values say about the health of the water in the pond? The river?

Once we got past the introduction of the entire unit, we went out behind the school to research the Pond that is directly behind the school and the River that is behind Gates park beside the school. Our big goal here was to find the quality of the water in these bodies of water to figure what types of organisms can live in them. To complete this goal, we incorporated the use of invertebrates. The students were all determined to find at least some organisms that could really aid us in finding the water quality. The reason why we looked for invertebrates was because with the discovery of different types of invertebrates that are found in the Pond and River can really give us an idea of the water quality and conditions. Of course, invertebrates can only indicate so much. We ended up taking water samples from both bodies of water. This gave us the rest of the numbers that we required for a conclusion.

Comment on the water quality value of the pond; of the river
–> what do these values say about the health of the water in the pond? The river?

You may be asking yourself “What numbers is this guy talking about?”. Well, let me explain. In total there was 7 aspects that we measured and 7 results that we got for the pond and the river. Dissolved oxygen, which is the amount of oxygen in the water. pH, which is the measurement of how acidic or basic the water is with 7 being normal water. Lower than 7 is more acidic and higher than 7 is more basic. Temperature change, as the name suggests, is the amount of degrees that usually changes in the temperature of the water.  Nitrates, it’s the amount of nitrogen that is found in the water. Nitrates or Nitrogen comes from things like fertilizer or animal waste. Phosphates are very similar to Nitrates by the fact that they both come from fertilizer and they both have the same effect on the ecosystem. Turbidity which is the clarity of the water. The higher the turbidity means the water is murkier and low turbidity means the water is clearer. This is caused by the suspended particles that are in the water. And Finally, Total Dissolved solids, this is the amount of the salts that come from different minerals and like most things on this list, too much=NOT GOOD and too little= NOT GOOD. We got various numbers from all these aspects for the River and Pond. In the end, after adding up all the values we received from the study, the River has an approximate Water Quality Value of 89.76 out of 100 which is GOOD. Similarly, the Pond received a 74.14 Water Quality Value which is also GOOD. This honestly baffled me based on the turbidity of the water and the smell.

In conclusion, we can safely assume that the health of the water in the pond and river is good and that it is a sustainable environment for most invertebrates that live in these water bodies.

 

Invertebrates

            My group and I found a lot of different invertebrates in the Pond and Coquitlam River. To my understanding the other groups also got very similar results as we did. I will start with the River.  In the river, my group and I didn’t find as much interesting ones as we hoped but we managed to still find some invertebrates such as Caddisfly Larvae, Mayfly Larvae and a Watermite. We also did find 3 snails. I did notice that other groups found other invertebrates such as Stonefly nymphs, Dragonfly nymphs and Cranefly larvae. There were certain ones that were found more than others, but these were the ones that the class found.

  Moving onto the Pond, my group and I had a lot more success in finding more interesting invertebrates in the pond than the river. A couple examples of the most interesting specimens that we found was the Dragonfly Nymph because of its sheer size which I found very intriguing and an Aquatic sow bug. The other groups in the class did find a lot of species also such as Alderflies, Dragonfly suborders and larvae.  Every group did also find some small fish in the water and one group had a very bad experience when they found a spider and lost it, thus causing a panic.

Comparing the sampling of the invertebrates from both sites only show some differences in species but overall, they both had a similar diversity of species with the river perhaps having a little more species than the pond.

All together

How do you think water quality is related to the diversity and number of invertebrates found in a water way?

Let’s say that we have a water way with an extremely poor water quality, and a Invertebrate that is looking to live in it. The reason the water quality is very poor is because it could have too much dissolved salt in the water or maybe the phosphate level has caused the oxygen to be depleted. Water ever the cause may be there are some questions to be asked such as: Will this Invertebrate survive in this water? Will its children survive in this water? However, there might be one invertebrate that could live in this water but only that invertebrate, there wouldn’t be as many invertebrates in quantity or diversity in the water if only a couple could survive it. I think that water quality is an essential part of a water way and that it alone can determine the diversity and number of invertebrates found there.

 

Conclusion

What did you think of these activities?

            I personally really enjoyed them, and I would absolutely do them again or something similar. It really gave the class a time to forge new bonds with others while learning about nature and our own backyard.

What did you learn?

            I really learned that communication is key when it comes to group projects like this. It also showed me how big of an effect that we could have on our environment whether it be positive or negative.

What would make these activities more meaningful?

I honest opinion I think these activities are perfect as they are. I really found them to be astounding and a great experience at firsthand science experiments for anyone.