The results are in and were we surprised!! Overall, our water here in Milwaukee is not as polluted as we thought it would be. "But it always looks so dirty," is what we kept hearing. We learned that "dirtiness" doesn't always mean polluted waters.
We were especially surprised at the pH level. We thought it would be much lower showing acidity. milwaukee is an industrial city with large factories situated fight near the Milwaukee River. We also thought that contaminants from Chicago would have blown up to our area and fall as acid rain. The Biology class in the fall will conduct another test since weather patterns in the summer tend to come from the southwest. We are thinking that the weather patterns from the northwest in the winter may have helped stabilize the pH of the river.
We also think that results on water samples south of Milwaukee may be different. Since the river runs north to south, the water may be more polluted downstream.
We enjoyed the project overall. It created much discussion, some hypotheses, and even more questions. That is what science is all about.
Thanks,
Milwaukee Hamilton 3rd block bio class