Savannah's Reflection

I think the project went pretty well overall. We came up with a question to ask in regards to the gasoline spill in Goldstream and I believe most of us made our best attempt to answer the question. I think the results we obtained from the experiment we did quite accurately matched my predictions of what we would find, backed up with our research that will be addressed during our presentation of this project.

The Group 4 project not only contributed to my knowledge of chemistry and physics, but gave me some insight as to what I will be learning in biology next year or in university. I enjoyed working collaboratively with the biology students and made a good effort to overcome some of the challenges I usually face with group work and my own perfectionism.

Everyone did a good job of helping out and sticking together during our visit to Goldstream by either collecting samples, taking pictures, or making good suggestions about where our project should head when we got back to the school. I enjoyed having the biology and physics students in the chemistry lab with me and learning how to do a hexane extraction with the samples we used, which was actually something I had never attempted myself, but I believe it went well.

One particular thing that I wish we had done differently was to go to Goldstream to take our samples more close to the date that the spill had happened. I think we ended up going there almost a month after the spill. The sooner the better! Columbia Fuels claimed that there was not only 40,000 L of gasoline, but also 700 L of biodiesel, which they claim evaporates rapidly, possibly contributing to our inconclusive data. Another thing that would have affected our results was the fact that we checked on our samples pretty late, so the percentage of gasoline left from the hexane extraction is zero. It would be great if, next time, group members could put more effort into the project and make an attempt to ask questions in order to understand what’s going on.

As the scientists we talked to on site said, it is difficult to know exactly what the long term effects of this spill will have on the environment and, particularly, the life cycles of the salmon, as an gasoline spill in this particular environment is new and has never happened before, so an estimation of what will happen cannot be easily given. Even though our question was not directly answered, I believe that our hypotheses are as good as anyone else can speculate. I enjoyed working with my group of scientists investigating this current issue.

Savannah