Acid Rain

In APES after school we did an experiment that was testing smoke and acidic gasses in air. We each got to do our own little experiment. So we had to wear gloves and get a small plastic container. Next we used Bromthymol blue indicator solution (10 drops) after pouring distilled water, after that we took matches and dropped it into our plastic container. Then we swirled it around a couple times and attached a tube to a syringe. Once this step was cleared, we had to observe what it was that "changed" the color of the water. After that we wrote down observations and the pH. This part was interesting because we had to suck air from outside or inside using the syringe and had to place it into our container. While doing this the water would bubble.
My mixture was initially blue with a pH of 7.6. After I added the match it changed into an aqua color. The pH went down to a 7. The second part of the experiment was to take inside/outside air. I used the air in Ms. Reid's room but nothing happened. What I understood from this was that the air in Ms. Reid's room has a low amount of acidic gases. Other people got different results. I think the reason behind this was that perhaps the air they were using had a slightly different acidity to it. Or maybe when they first put the match into the container, some smoke got out or maybe they captured enough. If it hadn't been raining out, the air would have been different. Also if we all went outside to a particular location, the air could have had a different reading causing our end result to change entirely.

Story and Stuff reflection

In class today we watched a very long video called "Story and Stuff" while taking notes. The main purpose of this video was to understand the "treadmill" cycle that we are putting our earth through due to overusing its natural resources and what comes in and out of it. The part that spoke out to me the most was the part where the woman described how the factories and the places that sell things will make things purposefully not last as long so we would have to purchase it again. Examples that were given was computers, mops, BBQ cookers, and other things. It really surprised me because stores are always saying "quality items," now we know have been made to be used for only a certain time. This in turn makes us have to make trips to the store to get new ones. Another thing that stood out the most was the treadmill. How people will work two jobs, come back home, watch TV that promotes things and makes us feel bad which makes us go to  the store to buy something that "supposedly" make us feel better. It impacted me because I realized how true it is.
In terms of food consumption, the basic stuff such as eating right (vegetables, fruits etc) are all quality things we need. Bad consumption would be unhealthy foods like processed. Another bad consumption would be over consuming. The body can only take so much. Another form of consumption that I think is bad is just buying stuff we don't need. There are many things on the market that don't serve as a purpose to us and we just get tricked into buying it. So I think that is unnecessary.

sewage treatment reflection

In APES after school we did a project that showed us how water could be filtered. We also got to compete with each other to see who could get the cleanest water. What we had to do was get a clear bottle of soda and rip off the plastic around it. Next we had to cut the bottom of the bottle and write our names on the outside of it. After that we had to use any of the materials laid out for us like: cotton balls, polyester fill, gravel, sand, and coffee filter. Depending on our choice, we got to fill our bottle up with as much of what we wanted. The number of layers didn't matter at all. As we were doing this, we had to write out what we were using to keep track of the amount we were using. Next, we all went to Ms. Reid and she filled up our "sewage system" up with dirty water and while using the part we cut out, we held it under for the water to come up. As the water would dripped out, we got to observe how clean our water was or how unfiltered it was.
Once we were done with everybody's' sewage system, we had to line them up to rank them. Mine came in third as the cleanest. In order from cleanest to dirtiest: Justin, Briana, Me, Krystal, Alida, Jenna, Eddie, Henry, Nick, and Emanuel. I feel like if I added more polyester, my water result would have been much cleaner. But I thought as I was doing it that the amount I had was enough to cleanse the water. It was not much of a disappointment because my water came up as the third cleanest. I think comparing mine to those who were not as clean, I must have layered it more than others. Perhaps the amount of cotton balls or polyester I had was able to hold more of the dirt back. While others probably did not think much about layering it. I feel polyester was most effective because its type of fabric held up most of the dirt while the cotton balls just soaked up the water in general. The gravel just blockaded some of the areas the water could pass through. Also, the sand just soaked up the water.

The Supermarket Veil Reflection

    Today in class we were able to look at two videos. One is about seeds and the other about a "veil." In the seeds video, as a recap, we learned that a company named Monsanto now owns patent seeds in the United States. What this means is that they can control the use of the seeds and keep anyone from saving the seed. This is a huge problem because many farmers especially have been caught saving seeds and are being sued for violating Monsanto's rule. But there are good and bad sides to knowing about the information based on the seeds. For one, they have nutritional benefits that would be widely used from other farmers. But also, it is against Monsanto for anyone to be in charge of or have this type of information which is why Monsanto feels to have responsibility for it. Another bad consequence for Monsanto having genetic information on the seed is that other companies or those with money could probably sue in order to have hold of that information as well. This situation compares to downloading music from free sites because free sites may have background information that could be adding charge and could just say they are free but really aren't. A tradition in my family is traveling. We tend to travel and visit other family members during the month of August because its the month we are all least busy in. But if I did not have this tradition I would be upset because the summer is the time to travel and I rarely see my family as it is. If someone were to claim this tradition as theirs it would be upsetting for anyone because its what they usually do and having it taken away from them is like taking a privilege away. I think a warning labels are effective. It all depends on the consumer to actually take it into consideration or just shrug it off and buy it anyway.
     A pro for becoming regulators is that they would have a say in what would happen if something new were to come up. What I mean by this is that just like how information on the seeds was a huge discovery, something similar and beneficial could occur. Becoming a regulator would ensure your say in how you would want to handle that information based on letting it be public to all farmers or having in kept confidentially. A con would be that regulators facing many types of issues that could be thrown their way because of peoples' actions.

Food Inc Cornucopia Reflection

I think its important for people to know and understand what is in their foods. Reading the ingredients is as far as we know is the only thing people can get from understanding what is in their foods. Although half the things that are on there they might not understand. A lot of people might know that most words ending in -ose are sugars or a type of syrup. It makes them have a better understanding of what is put into it. And there are a lot of informative videos on how stuff is made.  I do believe people have a right to know what is in their food because a lot of people are curious about the stuff that is being consumed. But many people would prefer not to know only because it may be unappetizing knowing that information. But the ingredients on the back of packaging could be enough for them to know. A problem that could arise from having 90% of our food having corn and soy is the concern of what it is we are going to do when it runs out. Or if for some reason, farmers were not as encouraged to produce that much corn, what could be used instead? I think industries that are in charge of putting labels on food and factories that actually make it are responsible. People have to know what the stuff is made of even though we might not comprehend half of it, but its still a priority to make it visible for consumers.

Food Inc-Dollar Menu Reflections

I think that eating right is a responsibility. A lot of people don't consider the amount of money and time it takes to grow vegetables and fruits. Although it is also a process to make unhealthy food, people would prefer it over healthy food. People are responsible for their weight and they need to be aware of the consequences it will take on their body if they do not treat it properly. People who work and get enough money to buy food for themselves every week should be able to buy something healthier than the stuff on shelves at the grocery store. People know that there is a fruit and vegetable section at the grocery store but its their decision whether they want to get stuff from there, or go down the snack aisle.
My diet is different than when my grandparents were around because--I am sure they had some type of junk food of sweets back then--but now its different because we have a lot more things being put out on sale and kids are tempted to buy them. Now people don't want to eat food made at home or vegetables, they want to eat Burger King or McDonalds. Back then, people probably just didn't have the money to buy things at all or were only accessible to healthy food. I think I eat a decent amount of greens to consider myself healthy. But everyone has a sweet tooth from time to time and it overcomes your taste for something better for you. But I do eat my vegetables or fruit in every meal. There is not a day that goes by that I won't have something healthy. What I would say is the thing that makes my family and I not as healthy as we could be is that we love baking. I bake because my mom used to bake. So I occasionally will make them deserts. Also my friends and I will always go out to eat and the meal servings are quite large. A way to help that situation would be to stop baking for a while and start being more active.

Symbiocity reflection

In class today we did an activity called the SymbioCity City Development Game. What this game was about was creating a city of our own. Everybody's initial city had the same problems. Some of those problems were waste buildup, water contamination, and landfill. So above the spots of our city that were being affected, we had to click on the small exclamation points and read about the arising problems. Next we had to click on city plan solutions and we were given a budget of 42,000 dollars. Without exceeding the limit we had to try to fix our problems by choosing what we thought was best. The purpose of doing this experiment was to see how these real life problems can be solved and seeing the progress we were making through every decision we chose.
Some challenges I never heard of were of urban sprawl. Which is city growing at an uncontrollable manner causing city segregation. Another challenge I had heard of but did not know that much of was the growing landfill. Many lands that could be used for something else, are contaminated by all the waste piling up. Also how it may end up getting burned so the city could have more room. I think a challenge Boston has currently is polluted air. I think a lot of cities have that problem rather than just Boston. The reason behind this is that cities are naturally busy and there is a lot of ways of transportation. And with a majority of people moving around, it takes a toll on the air due to all the cars and buses. A challenge I think that is most important is growing landfill. I think its important for us to expand and make use of the land, but keeping it piled up with a lot of trash is not effective. Although it keeps the mess out of our city, its just making a bigger mess over in other places. Ways to reduce this is definitely recycling and using our products for as long as we can.