User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
Ran into a few more issues this time around trying to implement my study. First I was mistaken in my original thought that NaCl would have an effect on the pH of a liquid. ( I have never taken chemistry although, that is not an excuse). So in order to test what I truly wanted to test which is the salinity I had to make some adjustments to my initial design.
I chose to collect samples on a day following a snowfall, I did this so that the roads and sidewalks would have been salted the day before and street/sidewalk clearing would have already taken place. I chose the starting point for my transects at random along the sidewalk in the residential area and the path by the lake by random computer generated number spanning 0 to 42 signifying the 42 meters along each path that I wanted to study (length of the path by the lake). From there I tested 6 units along the transect, each 2 meters apart.
In order to measure the salinity of the snow without expensive tools at my disposal I used a less precise/ yet still functional way to measure the salinity. I first collected snow samples along two transects (6 units each) both at the residential area and lake area. I used baking measuring cups to measure out 2 cups of snow at each sampling unit and put these into sealable glass jars. After collection I moved the jars inside and the snow melted. I then used Total Dissolved Salts (TDS) to measure how much salt there was in each sample. I evaporated the water from each sample and then collected the residue from each into a separate and labeled bag. I don’t have a scale and so I went to the local grocery store and used theirs in order to measure the grams of each sample. The findings followed my predictions with more total dissolved salts in the snow samples in the residential area.
This was extremely time-consuming! I had originally planned to do two transects at both locations but I decided that one would have to suffice.) The whole process took several days, as I had to ensure to wash away and dry out the pan after each sample to avoid left over residue from the previous sample.
I plan to do this after another snowfall in order to compare values.
