Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 08/12/2013 - 13:18

Hi Mr. Taterka, You wrote in one of your posts that you were measuring the intensity of light from the top of the river to the bottom of the river. How do you measure the intensity of light? Also, you wrote that you took water samples to find out what types of carbon compounds were present. Do some carbon compounds produce more CO2 than others? Thanks you! Leah Hoogerhyde

Anonymous

Leah -
Good questions!
We measured light in the water column in rivers and lakes using light meters, kind of like the ones you have on a camera but a little more sophisticated. You can see pictures of them in my journals:
http://www.polartrec.com/files/members/bruce-taterka/images/imgp1996.jpg
http://www.polartrec.com/files/members/bruce-taterka/images/imgp1941.jpg
We'll be work with light in environmental science labs this year.
.
As to your other question, all carbon compounds are NOT the same. When you break down a carbon compound - like when you digest food, burn a piece of wood, or use gasoline in your car - you always produce CO2. Some compounds generate much more CO2 per unit of energy released than others. We'll be doing labs about this also.
Those are great questions, and we will definitely try to answer them in the lab this year.
- Mr. T