Question

7. The analysis of water in a lake or stream depends upon more than one field of science or body of knowledge. Suppose you stumble across a portable water-testing lab on a riverbank, and you find two testing stations: (1) a light microscope and glass slides; and (2) a package of pH (acid/base) test strips and a digital thermometer. But you find no scientists. Match each testing equipment station to the field of science to which it belongs, and hypothesize what is being tested in each station. (6 points)

Answer 1

The first set of laboratory equipment includes slides and an optical microscope. In a lake, these would most likely be used to search for microorganisms, such as bacteria, algae, amoebae, etcetera; since the microscope allows us to see extremely small organisms. Because of this, the equipment would be related to the field of biology.

The second set of laboratory equipment would be related to the field of chemistry since in this case it could be used to determine the acidity or alkalinity of the lake with the pH strips and its temperature with the thermometer.

Therefore, a possible hypothesis would be that in the biological testing laboratory, they are investigating the populations of microorganisms living in the lake; and in the chemical testing laboratory, they are investigating the effects of environmental pollution on the lake, as CO2 acidifies the water bodies and global warming rises the temperature.