http://www.planetwatch.be/
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Students of 3A and 4A SIGO! help scientists to examine air pollution in Lennik
In the complementairy lessons of 3A ASO we work this year around threats on the earth, says teacher Mieke Devriendt. This goes from meteorite impacts to survival techniques and indeed ... air pollution.
Monday November 13, we started with project "planet watch". We join an ambitious Belgian study of RVO Society, that studies the air quality of Belgium through bio-indicators. The project consists three parts. The first part is "fieldwork". Already here we realised that we participated in a "real" scientific research. The leaves of the maple had to be collect in a proper manner, through strict procedures , which certainly was not always evident. Once in the lab, all materials, including the work tables, had to be made sterile. Here preps were made for the cultivation of pink leaf yeasts that occur on the underside of the leaves. Talking was not allowed when opening the preps; when you felt a cough, you had to go out of the classroom; when touching non-sterile areas, you had to start over, again and again ... These are, after all precautions necessary to prevent contamination and to obtain correct results. After a week, the cultures of pink sheet yeasts are counted and recorded. The number rose leaf yeasts on the underside of the leaves of maple are in fact a good indicator of the air quality (lot = good quality, low = poor quality). Via GPS localization trees we studied, were registrated. We found that the air quality in Lennik was good!
Besides assisting in the registration of our air quality, we made this "my space" to. We want to draw attention on this environmental issues in a fun way. You can admire the films of both teams soon on the social media. Please vote for us! If we win we win a nice price and put our school in the picture!
To be continued ...
The results of our expiriment were very good.
Our air quality is very good.
The students of 3A and 4A (Team 4A and Toppies)