MSU TRIP!!

At the MSU trip, I learned several things that were really neat to find out.

The Planetarium:

1.   Constellations come out during different seasons, they aren't all visible at once.
2. You can see planets from Earth, depending on when it is visible at what time.
3. There is more than one galaxy, there are actually several different galaxies.
4. Stars take thousands of years to grow and explode
5. There are different shapes of galaxies.

The Cyclotron:

1. They like to take nucleus' and smash them and study the pieces that are left
2. They study the isotopes of the nucleus.
3. The plan on building a longer, more accurate system to study these isotopes called the FRIB.

I really enjoyed just walking through campus and seeing student life. I also liked being in an actual college classroom/lecture hall to see what it would be like for me next year.

I would make the trip longer so that we would have more time to walk through campus or do other things!

Acid Rain project

Acid Rain

Acid rain can happen anywhere at any time. There is acid rain, acid snow, and acid fog that can happen in wet areas; and acid gas and acid dust that occurs in dry areas of the earth. All lakes and rivers have a slight acidity level. but if th pH goes to a certain level, it can be dangerous to the fish and other organisms living there.(1)

Acid rain occurs when polluted gases get trapped in clouds. These gases usually come from factories buring large amounts of fossil fuels and coal and car exhausts. Trees, lakes, animals, and even buildings are vulnerable to acidic precipitation. They all can be severely damaged from this type of rain. People can contract skin cancer and radiation poisoning from acid precipitation as well.(2)

There is no way to predict when acid rain will fall or where. It all depends on the amount of acidic chemicals getting emitted into the air in that area.There was a rumor that when a dark circle appears around the moon, acid rain will fall. But this ring only appears every 750 years and acid rain happens way more often. (3)

Power plants and other factories are requiring filters be installed in their pipes to reduce the amount of acidic chemicals that get into the air. There are acts and laws against factories emitting these dangerous chemicals into the air. (4)

These trees were killed by the effects of acid rain.

Acid Rain can erode statues and buildings. Stone is no match for this type of precipitation.

Acid Rain Cycle.

1. http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215/acid_rain.htm
2. http://www.enotes.com/earth-science/acid-rain
3. http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=57381
4. http:// envirnment.nationalgeographic.com/envirnment/global-warming/acid-rain-overview/

River Testing

The q-value, according to our tests, in the river was so low that the fish are basically either dead or dying. Our preliminary Q-value was 3.5 and our final was 2.45. I figured that our results would be low but I didn't think they would be so low that our fish could be dying off.

GREAT LAKES

1. Lake Superior is the largest and Lake Erie is the smallest.
2. The most urban was Lake Michigan and the most rural was Lake Superior.
3. Lake Michigan has the longest shoreline
4. With companies dumping sewage and other trash into our lakes and rivers, our ecosystem is going to easily die off and become extinct at one point or another. Companies need to stop dumping crap into the lakes so that the fish are able to live.
5. Two types of pollutants is automobile fumes and paper/plastic trash.
6. 
   

a.) The water from my house goes into a drain field that is currently in my backyard, we plan to move that field out from the lowest point on our property to the highest so that it doesn't flood in the spring.
b.) Runoff water either evaporates into the air or it drains into the ground and will eventually end up in a river or lake.
c.) Runoff water and Sewer water should never end up in the same place because runoff water is clean, drinkable water that can be used for human use. Sewer water will contaminate that water and could potentially get humans really sick.
d.) Sources of pollution in the waterwould be leaves, dirt, sewage, bugs/animals, etc.
e.) Point water pollution is pollution that is caused by a human, like when companies dump trash into forests or lakes. Non-point water pollution is, for example, when it rains and it washes car oil from a driveway into runoff water and will soon end up in the water supply.
f.) A watershed is a spot where all water runs off and ends up into a giant puddle/lake thing. It's sort of hard to explain.