Student Research Reports

My project is on the levels of microplastics found in the Lake Erie watershed. I chose to do this project because Lake Erie is a large source of drinking water. Fish from Lake Erie are oftentimes consumed at restaurants and in peoples’ homes. Microplastics have a very dangerous impact on the human body. I took water samples from Catawba State Park (Lake Erie), Maple Street Docks (Maumee River), Side Cut Creek (a tributary to the Maumee River), and the sink in my science classroom. My Research Question: How do microplastic levels vary throughout the Lake Erie Watershed?My hypothesis is that Lake Erie will have the highest level of microplastics because it has many different sources of water flowing into it which may affect the microplastic levels. Lake Erie has also been tested by other scientists and found to have very high concentrations of microplastics.My hypothesis was not supported by my results. Lake Erie was actually tied with the sink in the science room for the least amount of microplastics (18 microplastics). The Maumee River had the greatest amount of microplastics (24 microplastics). I believe that this may be because the Maumee River is more turbid than Lake Erie (see turbidity comparison).