Abstract

ABSTRACT

The research question for this project is "//how bad is the condition of the lake water?"// In order to test this, each member of the group contributed their ideas that are related to their Science group. For Biology, we tested the abundance of algae using Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD). This will tell us how much algae is in each water sample. For ESS, we interviewed people who live around the lake about their activities in the lake such as fishing, swimming, and washing clothes. This tells us how people treat the lake and its affects to the lake water. For Chemistry, we tested the concentration of nitrates and phosphates and measured the pH of the water. This supports our findings of the abundance of algae and the pH tells us the acidity of the lake water. For Physics, we tested the refractive index of the lake and compared it to the refractive indexes of tap water and distilled water. It was found that the lake water has the highest refractive index which means the water is very dance; this is also due to the large amount of algae. In the end, we found that the lake water is at a worse condition than in 1969 with different areas of the lake being at different conditions than each other. One way to improve the quality of the water is to provide restrictions on the way people can use the lake for, such as not washing clothes in there and not using shampoos when taking shower in the lake and also enforce a “no littering” policy.