Student Research Reports

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Growing up in a rural area, Jinshan, we have been educated to be concerned about the nature. But we mostly did it by passively absorbing what other people had found through books, newspapers, etc. Now we make an attempt to explore the nature through empirical reseach. We start from where we live, Jinshan, and focus on the water, which is vital for life, that is, we research the only two streams in Jinshan. We apply what we learn to our life. We compare the middle reaches, downstreams, and estuaries of Sulfur Creek (磺溪) and Huangtan Creek (員潭溪). We collect five 500-ml plastic bottles of water from each of the six sites and evaluate the pH, conductivity, PPM, and specific gravity. Due to some errors during the collection, three 500-ml bottles of water are collected and an average value is treated. The result indicates that the water of the middle reach of Sulfur Creek is slightly more alkaline than that of downstream, and the water of estuary is even more alkaline than that in middle reach and downstream. The water of the middle reach of Huangtan Creek is more alkaline than that of downstream and the PPM and conductivity of the water of middle reach and downstream differ a lot. It is presumed that there are problems in these areas. The pH of Sulfur Creek also differs a lot from that of Huangtan Creek, with the pH of Sulfer Creek 4 and the pH of Huangtan Creek around 7. We hope to further investigate the range of river influenced by tides. We also hope to investigate the differences of the creeks in difference seasons.