Quagga Mussels by Tyler Moravec

I did my project on Quagga Mussels, an invasive species that is causing major problems for the Great Lakes. They are able to handle a variety of different water depths and can tolerate more temperatures giving them an advantage over their cousin, the Zebra Mussel. Originating from Europe, the Quagga Mussels are very efficient filter feeders. They can filter up to between 1 quart and 1 liter a day. A single female mussel can lay up to 5 million eggs, 100,000 of which will reach adulthood. In turn, the offspring of a single mussel will end up producing a half billion offspring. With so many Quaggas filtering the water and eating the phytoplankton, the water becomes more clear and there isn't as much phytoplankton for other organisms to feed on. This will disrupt the whole food web as many species depend on the phytoplankton. Smaller organisms, such as the shrimp-like Diporeia, are finding it harder and harder to find their food. Without as much food the number of Diporeias are dropping. This will end up affecting the smaller fish that feed on Diporeia and then the bigger fish that eat the smaller fish. With all these fish being affected and numbers decreasing, the Great Lakes fishery, valued at $7 billion, is at risk. It also costs money to keep the mussels off boats, docks and from clogging up pipes. Not only do these affect the other fish and the economy, but it also affects recreational activities. With clearer water from the filtering, sunlight is able to get through the water better and help the algae grow more productively. This will eventually end up affecting the lake as a whole, and the beaches when the algae washes up on the beaches. With so many of the mussels throughout the lakes, with our current technology complete eradication is not likely possible, making it even more important to try to prevent further spreading. People should not transport, possess, sell or move Quagga Mussels. They should check their boats and other equipment to make sure they are not holding any mussels.  Without proper knowledge and prevention, the spread of the Quagga Mussels will only get worse.

Mercury Content In Lake Michigan By Jake Meister

My project was about finding out the content of Mercury, a neurotoxin and the amount that was in Lake Michigan. Along with the potential damages Mercury could have on one's body. ng a neurotoxin into their body. In Highland Park, we are fortunate enough to have such a large quantity of freshwater available for us to drink.  But again, just because we have a large supply of the water, doesn’t mean it is clean enough for us to drink.  According to Don Jensen of the Highland Park Water Plant, they must detect the water of Lake Michigan for Mercury annually.  They have never detected a single particle of Mercury within Lake Michigan’s water. This is obviously fantastic news.  How does HP find this data out? HP, just like your typical student at Highland Park High School, has standard lab procedures. The Environmental Protection Agency creates an extremely lengthy procedure to test the mercury levels of any freshwater body of water.  This is what HP uses as well.  In summary, as provided by the EPA, the process goes as follows. A known portion of a water sample is transferred to a BOD bottle, equivalent ground glass stoppered flask or other suitable closed container. It is digested in dilute permanganate-potassium persulfate solutions and oxidized for two hours at 95°C. Mercury in the digested water sample is reduced with stannous chloride to elemental mercury and measured by the conventional cold vapor atomic absorption technique. In essence, this is a pretty simple procedure, considering the magnitude that mercury can have within our environment.  

Bottle Biosphere by Noah Friedenberg

For my project I maintained a biosphere using coke bottles to encompass all of the elements of the biosphere. I had an "atmosphere" (upper) portion and a hydrosphere (lower) portion. I maintained this biosphere for about 1 month-2 months. When observing this biosphere I noticed three key components of the biosphere: the carbon cycle, the water cycle, and the nitrogen cycle. In my "atmosphere" I had plants, soil, and worms. The plants help the water move around and allow the decomposers (worms) to eat the plants. The lower portion had water, gravel, a marimo ball, and a fish. The "atmosphere" was touching the top part of the water (in the lower portion) so that the water could travel from the lower portion into the soil of the upper portion. The betta fish helped the nitrogen cycle take place as its toxic waste was a key component in the cycle. Lastly the marimo ball and the fish pooping allowed eutrophication to take place in the hydrosphere, so the water got very green with algae. One day I just had seeds in my soil and the next day I had plants growing. All three of these cycles intertwine to create a self-sustainable biosphere.

Sam Wiczer:BPA-free water bottles

I researched BPA-Free water bottles and he effect BPA has on humans. BPA is a chemical known as bisphenol A. Bisphenol A is an industrial chemical used to make (hard) plastic water bottles. BPA is a polycarbonate, which is a synthetic resin, used in making many molded materials. polycarbonate and epoxy resin materials that are great for food containers and for storing beverages. They do not conduct electricity or attract heat. BPA is an endocrine disruptor, which means it blocks the production of natural hormone such as: testosterone (men) and Estrogen (women). Men drinking out of BPA bottles have shown increased levels of estrogen and lower testosterone levels. BPA was first created by a chemist named Alexander Dianin in 1891. It was only until the 1950's were BPA plastics became relevant to the public. BPA was first created to make new design techniques and injection moldings. Now most water bottle companies make BPA-free bottles to prevent any side effects that come with drinking out of BPA.

Stephanie Ball Herbal Medicine

My project was on two local plants found in Highland Park, St John's Wort and Echinacea, and how they are used in herbal medicine. Herbal medicine containing St John’s Wort or Echinacea comes in many different forms because different parts of the plants are used to make the medication. When scientists conduct experiments to see how herbal medicine affects the body it is difficult to determine because each test uses a different form of the plant. Some parts of the plant do show that they treat an illness and help the body while others do not have positive outcomes. The results of an experiment may be changed to show that the plant helps the body because those who run the experiment want to prove that herbal medicine is effective. This gives the public false information on herbal medicine and is unethical. People need to be cautious when they take herbal medicine and should read the ingredients to see what part of the plant they are consuming.  

Desalination by A.J. Huey

My research was on desalination of ocean water. By using the process of reverse osmosis, it separates salt and other impurities from sea water into fresh, clean drinking water. There are over 1700 plants worldwide and the three areas I looked into were California, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. California is in severe need of water and they have two major plants in operation, but Israel and Saudi Arabia are not experiencing any trouble with water shortage because they already have a few desalination plants made in their countries. The pros of having desalination plants are that we have an abundant amount of ocean water, it's been proven effective, and the salt taken out of the water can be sold instead of table salt. As for the cons, it costs a lot of money to build and run an average desalination plant and can have an environmental impact on marine life. For instance, some fish eggs will get caught into the system, or cleaning of the system can cause damage of the sea floor.

The Great Lakes By: Geoffrey Lasin

1. It all started 15,000 years ago during the last glacial period. These five interconnected lakes formed around North America, from the Atlantic Ocean to the St. Lawrence River. These lakes are named Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. These lakes form the largest groups of freshwater lakes on Earth. They contain 20% of the world’s surface freshwater.
2. These lakes are the homes of many aquatic species. Many of the invasive species have been introduced through trade, but some of them threaten the region’s biodiversity. The Great Lakes cover a total surface area of 95,000 square miles and hold about 5,500 cubic miles of water (approximately 20 percent of all the world's fresh water and more than 80 percent of the freshwater of North America). There are more than 10,000 miles of shoreline that frame the Great Lakes and from west to east, the lakes span more than 750 miles. When the glaciers receded at the end of the last glacial period about 15,000 years ago, the Great Lakes filled with water left behind by the melting ice.
3. The Great Lakes has a very interesting history and when studying it, the topic itself has a lot to offer and can go a very, very long way in the future.

Wave Energy and effects on erosion by Tania Najera

Waves transmit energy through water. They are undulations of the water surface produces by winds blowing over it. The size of the waves depend on the the wind speed, timing, and distance. Fetch is an important factor since it will determine the magnitude of the wave and grow energy. It can expand in sediment movement an erosion. Often most erosion are created during storm events in which they transport sediment. Coastal erosion is a major concern for coastlines, beaches, and marine life. There have been built different systems to slow down erosion. For instance building sand dunes, building up the bottom of the ocean farther from the beach. As a result waves have an incredible amount of energy that has the force to destroy marine life and communities by the coast or beach. It's essential to prevent erosion and secure the the coastlines and marine life.

Stormwater: Claudia Dresdner & Rachael Winter

For our project we researched all about stormwater. We learned about the harmful effects of stormwater and how we can control the harm to our environment by recycling or properly disposing of household products that contain pesticides, chemicals, and fertilizers. We were surprised to learn that stormwater could cause so much damage to our environment. It can cause down stream flooding, storm bank erosion, and habitat destruction. Lastly, we learned Highland Parks own plan for managing stormwater and the different steps stormwater goes through. Highland Parks program identified seven priority area that needs significant reduction of inflow and infiltration into the city's sanitary sewer system; Highlands, Ravina, Ridgewood, Sherwood forest, southwest, sunset woods, and Trail way. We enjoyed learning about stormwater and what we can do to help protect our environment from it.

Pollution Julia and Mia

For our project we researched pollution from different places as well as Highland Park. We also researched how it affects our environment and ways we can prevent it. It was very interesting to see how polluted our world really is and that there are so many factors that go into making our world so polluted. What we found to be very shocking is how polluted California is because 4/10 of the most polluted places in the world are all in California. Something new that we also learned is that Highland Park is doing everything they can do cause less pollution in our main source of water which is Lake Michigan. There has been an ongoing project trying to conserve clean water and drilling pipes in order to stop all the pollution from going into it. Having pollution go into our water would cause very harmful effects to us and our drinking water which would not be very good. Pollution is a really big issue and were so glad we got the opportunity to research and learn more about it.

4 glaciers in the midwest by: Jason Block

My research focused on the landforms created by 4 glaciers in the midwest. The four glaciers are the Nebraskan, Kansan, Illinoian and Wisconsinan. These four glaciers occurred during the pleistocene epoch which occurred from 2.6 million to 10,000 years ago. Types of landforms created are moraines, erratics, kettles and drumlins. A moraine is created from a mass of rocks and sediment carried down and deposited by a glacier, typically as ridges at its edges or extremity. A kettle is a hole in the ground created by a glacier. An erratic is a rock that looks like it doesn't belong with the other rocks. A drumlin is an oval or elongated hill believed to have been formed by the streamlined movement of glacial ice sheets across rock debris, or till.

Moarine:

Kettle:

Erratic:

Drumlin:

The four glaciers:

Ecological Design

Me (Roberto Alonso) and James Hermann, or should I say Hermann and I learned a lot about what it means to have a green home. We looked at what makes a green home and what it might take to have one, or even a whole community of them. The reason we chose this topic is because, one we were running out of time, and two, we could see our school taking that path. What we learned is that these types of houses will take a lot of time to not only be approved for mass building, but to be approved by the public. The passive design of the house is everything and it could something as simple as the way your windows are angled. There would be a lot of sacrifices like money and time, but the payoff is well worth it.

Wood Ducks!

For our projects, we focused on the research life of the wood duck. We all had an interest in cool looking birds, and after searching for a species we could find here, we settled on the wood duck because of it's unique color and habitat. We decided that we wanted to build a nest for wood ducks and see if we could house any. Deciding behind hidden creek aqua park was the best place since it is a wetland with vegetation, we built the nest to certain dimensions and placed it in the vegetation behind the aqua park. We waited a week and returned, but sadly, the nest was gone. There was evidence of wildlife interacting with the area, but the nest itself disappeared. Despite this, we still learned a lot about the species and that we would have had a better chance to house one a little later in the season this year
-Dylan, Jorge and Omar

FROGS!

For our project we focused on the best habitat for frogs in Highland Park. We went to different locations including Danny Cunniff Pond, Foleys Pond, and the ravine where we released our trout. This whole project came to be because one day when we were outside during class, we saw a leopard frog in our prairie near the tennis courts. We then decided to mainly focus on leopard frogs and focused on the leopard frogs around HP. When we went to Danny Cunniff we found 1 bull frog throughout the one hour we were there. When we went to Foleys, we found 2 leopard frogs throughout the hour we were there. And when we went to the ravine, sadly, we found no frogs. After those trips, we did some research to see if our data/findings matched the research. It did. We found that leopard frogs are found mainly in wet, humid, places near ponds, lakes, mud, swamps, etc. 

-David and Danny

Salt Water Into Power - Zack & Andrea

We started our project by finding the consequences of melting water in Antarctica and Greenland would be. There were many consequences so we found that to stop the ice from melting we should find a clean way to make energy. So we began our research.

We found a man named John Kanzius who was diagnosed with Leukemia in 2003 and being an inventor he came up with is his radiofrequency generator (RFG), a machine that generates radio waves and focuses them into a concentrated area

Kanzius used the RFG to heat small metallic particles inserted into tumors, destroying the tumors without harming normal cells

While his machine was on he noticed a glass of salt water near the RFG was condensing so he conducted an experiment where he put the glass of saltwater directly in front of the RFG and to his surprise the water sparked and set a flame

In its normal state, salt water has a stable composition of sodium chloride (the salt) and hydrogen and oxygen (the water). But the radio waves from Kanzius' RFG disrupt that stability, degrading the bonds that hold the chemicals in salt water together. This releases the volatile hydrogen molecules, and the heat output from the RFG ignites them

This is so important because you could take plain salt water out of the sea, put it in containers and produce a flame that could heat generators that make electricity

A nearly unlimited clean resource

The Benefits of Bees and their Products in our Ecosystem

Ben Wolkoff, Maddie Xilas, Reid Kahn, Casey Frommer

                                                                          Bees

                                                                         

    Our research project focused on bees and their ecological benefits. While researching this topic, we learned about the types of bees: Honey, Bumble, Hornet, and Yellow-jacket, the estimated amount of food we consume daily pollinated by bees (1/3), and the most bee friendly flowers: Cosmos, Asters, Sunflowers, and Marigolds.We discovered the importance of organic honey versus industrialized honey in terms of bee preservation. Large honey corporations care little for the bees themselves and more about producing honey. We learned the history of the bee and how sacred they were in ancient times. Bee carvings can be found in hieroglyphs. Honey was even used in World War 2 as an antibiotic. We educated ourselves and hope to educate others on the problems bees are facing today. Within the past 6 years 10 million beehives worth over 2 billion dollars have been wiped out. This mass extinction is known as Colony Collapse Disorder. It is due to a large accumulation of unique pesticides that have gathered in flowers and are now capable of killing bees as well as fungi. We learned the health benefits gained by pasteurized honey. Honey contains enzymes and antioxidants and its almost 100% bacteria free. Most honey also contains trace amounts of pollen and if consumed on a regular basis can train immune systems to lessen pollen allergy inducing effects. Many people are allergic to bees and even more are afraid of a bee's sting but hopefully we have helped shed light on the importance of bees in our society. We all can help in preserving our local buzzing friends. 

Celiac Disease Project By Ari Goldwasser and Sami Fabric

For our project we studied the environmental impact on Celiac Disease. We chose this because this disease is on the rise and it affects many people that we know. It is not 100% proven that Round up causes Celiac, but there is a strong correlation between the increase in the use of Round up, which contains the chemical glyphosate, and the increase in Celiac Disease. From our research we have concluded that there is a genetic and environmental factor that goes into the diagnosis of Celiac Disease. In order to develop Celiac one must have the HLA-DQ2 gene and the DQ8 gene (genetic factor) as well as be exposed to glyphosate(environmental factor). If a person has these genes, it doesn't mean they have Celiac but they can develop it. We are very passionate about our topic and have enjoyed researching it over this past semester.

What types of macro-invertebrates inhabit the waterways of Highland Park? By: Chris Kingwill

For my project, I attempted to answer the question:  “What kinds of macro-invertebrates inhabit the waterways of Highland Park?”

For my project, I decided to target seven sites for water sample analysis:

1.     Hidden Creek

2.    The inland pond at Fink Park

3.    The Montessori reservoir at Fink Park

4.    Lake Michigan

5.    Red Oak vernal pools

6.    Millard Park ravine stream

7.    Skokie Valley bike trail pools

Both Hidden Creek and Lake Michigan were moving bodies of water while the rest were not and I thought the diversity in sites could offer the chance to strong overall biodiversity in what I could discover.  For almost the past two months, I have been looking at at least one sample from every one of these sites.  When I first started back in March, the climate had not quite warmed up yet and the majority of these ecosystems were slow to show signs of life.  By the middle of April, I was beginning to find many more animals.  

Notable Organisms' Range In Sites Surveyed

Animal	Hidden Creek	Fink Park Inland Pond	Fink Park   Reservoir	Red Oak Vernal Pools	Skokie Valley bike trail	Ravine Stream	Lake Michigan
Ostracod	NO	NO	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO
Mosquito larvae	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	NO
Leech (larvae)	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	Maybe	NO
Snail	NO	NO	NO	YES	YES	NO	NO
Springtail	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	NO
Amphipod	NO	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO
Water mite	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	NO
Nematode	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO
Algae of some form	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES

Based on this data, both phytoplankton and zooplankton were found along with larger invertebrates such as mosquito larvae.  Overall, there is large aquatic biodiversity in Highland Park.  The site with the most biodiversity were the vernal pools at Red Oak School.  Statistically, six of the notable types of organisms I found were from the vernal pools.  Some, such as the leech and mosquito larvae, were unique only to this location and I found them nowhere else.  Compared to the vernal pools of Red Oak, the ravine stream near Millard Park contained less biodiversity based on what I analyzed.  The site the least amount of biodiversity was Lake Michigan.  Arguably, if I had equipment that could able me to collect samples from deeper water, I think I could have found more in the Lake.  This project is significant because the macroscopic organisms consisting of phytoplankton, zooplankton, and larger invertebrates play important roles as sources of foods and sources of photosynthesis for these aquatic environments and the ecosystems they support.  

How can we keep our lake clean? By: Tania Flores

What are microbeads?

Microbeads are polyethylene microspheres that are widely used in cosmetics, skin care and personal care industries. In personal care products they act to gently scrub away dead skin in much the same way a sponge would.

In what ways microbeads are affecting our lake?

Tiny bits of plastic, small scrubbing components used in hundreds of personal care products like skin exfoliants and soap, can slip through most water treatment systems when they wash down the drain. The plastic pollution found in the ocean mostly in the Great Lakes, which contain more than 20 percent of the world's freshwater. This not only affects us but it also affects our fish in the water. The 5 Gyres Institute estimates that a single tube of facial cleanser can contain 330,000 microbeads.

How do microbeads make it into the waterways?

When people use products containing micro beads, like a face wash, the beads go down the drain and travel through the water pipes into the water treatment facilities. Wastewater goes through several steps in the treatment process, before being discharged out to the Sanitary and Ship Canal, which carries treated sewage to the Des Plaines River. The problem is that the micro beads aren’t caught in the treatment process. They’re too small to be gathered in filters. During the treatment process, small microorganisms feed on the organic material that flows through the tanks at the water plant.

How can micro beads affect our fish?

These plastic beads are just the right size for fish and other aquatic creatures to mistake them for food. The beads could physically clog up their stomachs and prevent them from getting adequate nutrition. Plastics tend to absorb pollutants, so the beads could poison the small fish that larger fish prey on. The larger fish are eaten by humans, which poses a human health risk.

What can we do in order to stop using micro beads?

The most important thing you can do is to read the label on these products. Start by searching a product’s ingredient list for “polyethylene”, a common form of synthetic micro beads.

Shark Finning serious problem that can relate to fresh water? (Reece Pulfer)

Shark finning is a serious problem out is the ocean. Millions of sharks have been slaughtered for their fins and then left to die. I have been working all semester to find a solution for this problem. Calling  restaurants and getting the awareness out was my main goal. Early last semester is when I became aware of this issue and I was appalled by what I saw. I was in even more shock when I saw how few people actually knew about what was happening. Recently it was brought to our attention the dangers of over fishing in fresh water. Its the same idea as the shark finning we are taking these animals out of their natural habitat and hurting our ecosystem permanently. Something needs to be done. Spread awareness of these issues to save our oceans and lakes for future generations.

Road Salt

Linda Nunez & Gaby Loredo

      For our project we researched the affects that the road salt has on the environment.

Between 10 and 20 million tons of salt is used today. This massive use of road salt has caused an alarming increase in the salinity of our water. Road Salt contains sodium chloride, chemically abbreviated NaCl. In addition to NaCl, it usually has other chloride salts such as magnesium, calcium, and potassium chloride. There is no natural process by which chlorides are broken down, metabolized, taken up or removed from the environment.  In salt-sensitive plants, exposure to salt can result in poor growth, stunned leaves, heavy seed loads, twig and branch die-back, leaf-scorch, and premature leaf drop. Plants stressed by excessive salt are also more susceptible to biotic diseases and insect pests. We have learned about many of the harmful affects road salt has on the environment and in our presentation we discussed the ways we can minimize usage.  

 

Biodegradation Of Everyday Items

 

Even though many cities have recycling programs, 
lots of trash still ends up in the dump. I thought I 
would find out which

materials break down and which materials won’t. Will these 

results change the products you mostly buy? Over the course of 5 weeks I buried several items such as paper towel, toilet paper, plastic bags, plastic cups to see how much they will degrade. I then created a scale to rate them with and also researched what landfills are and how items are recycled. Then I came up with solutions to use less plastic in order to reduce the waste because nobody wants to live next to a landfill.

By: Linda Tulman

Emily and Carly Korman

Period: 8/9 C. Hill

We created a "Fish Guide" that provides you with information on what types of fish are healthy or unhealthy to eat including fish from Lake Michigan. We wrote vital questions you should ask yourself when ordering fish at various restaurants, as well as health concerns regarding sushi. Below shows questions you should ask when ordering fish and health risks with sushi consumption, (and sources). That is only a small portion of our guide, we have many other pages about fish (safe/unsafe/Lake Michigan). 

Questions to Raise when Ordering Fish:

• What country is it from?
• Is the fish wild-caught or farm-raised?
• If it is farmed, how was it grown? (Was it raised in a polluting open net pen or in a contained tank or pond?)
• If it is wild, how was it caught? (Were long lines used, or was it caught by pole? Long lines often catch extra unwanted "bycatch.")
• Are populations of this fish healthy and abundant? (Small, fast-growing fish can withstand more fishing pressure, while large, slow-growing species are more vulnerable to overfishing.)
• Are there eco-friendly alternatives?
• Is this fish really a... (red snapper, wild salmon, grouper, etc.)? These are prime candidates for fish fraud.

Possible Fish Fraud if:

• A price too good to be true for a highly desired fish like red snapper or grouper.
• Out-of-season fish, like wild salmon from Alaska, being sold “fresh” in winter months.
• Wacky labels you know not to be true, such as "farmed Chilean sea bass" (only caught in the wild) or "wild Atlantic salmon" (an endangered species and not commercially available).

Sushi: Good or Bad?

Health risk: Parasites

The biggest health risk in sushi is parasites, heavy metals and bacteria. The FDA requires that all fish served raw must be frozen at a minimum of minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit for 7 days or minus 31 degrees for fifteen hours. This FDA requirement means that most sushi in the U.S. is likely to be free of parasites.

CAUTION: you cannot kill parasites by freezing fish in your home. Your freezers cannot freeze the fish fast enough. Parasites would survive this process!

How to Protect Yourself

1. Saltwater Fish: These fish are less likely to be infected than freshwater fish. Freshwater fish like catfish and trout have higher risk of infection
2. Wasabi: Use your wasabi, it naturally kills parasites!
3. Ocean: Choose fish from the Atlantic over those from pacific. Pacific has a higher population and can spread more parasites.
4. Farmed may be better: Choose farmed fish over wild caught. Farmed fish are raised in controlled environments and rarely have parasites.
5. Tuna: Tuna is rarely affected by parasites, but be aware that they are high in mercury content.
6. Ask for “sashimi grade” fish: These fish go through all the FDA requirements and guarantee safety.
7. Ask for young fish: They have been around for less time and will be less likely to have gotten parasites.

SOURCES

Good to Eat or Bad to Eat?:   

http://longevity.about.com/od/lifelongnutrition/a/fish_mercury.htm http://www.rodalenews.com/healthy-fish  

http://www.prevention.com/food/healthy-eating-tips/12-unhealthy-fish-avoid-eating?s=13

http://www.wbez.org/series/curious-city/fish-and-risks-eating-lake-michigan-catch-109808

Questions to Raise:

http://seafood.edf.org/buying-fish-what-you-need-know

Sea food in HP:

http://www.google.com/search?q=seafood+in+Highland+Park+Illinois&npsic=0&rflfq=1&tbm=

Side Note - Raw Sushi Safe?

http://renegadehealth.com/blog/2013/09/30/1-sushi-health-risk-parasites-with-7-tips-to-protect-yourself