TALONSTalk

For my TALONSTalk, I researched how the pH of leaves could affect the water of BC wetlands. If you would like to watch it click the link below.

Clara’s TALONSTalk

Have a good day!

13 Thoughts.

  1. Really interesting presentation Clara! It’s a super cool topic since nobody thinks too much about wetlands being so important, but you showed some awesome evidence that they are. My question is, what do you think would happen if the pH levels of a wetland got too high, and began to damage the ecosystem within it? Would the animals and plants adapt to it, or would everything go wrong too quickly to the point where the area was damaged almost beyond repair? Just wanted to know your thoughts. Thanks!

    • Hi Jordan! Thanks so much for watching my TALONSTalk and for the awesome question. I think the answer really depends on how fast things happen. If a company were to dump a load of very acidic substances into a wetland all at once I think that the wetland could be hit really hard and potentially not be able to survive. Although I think that if the pH levels were going up more and more over time they might have a better chance of adapting to the new conditions, it could still result in the loss of some wetland species though.

  2. Hello Clara!
    I really liked your TALONS Talk! I thought that it was really interesting that you talked about the tree leaves’ effect in water as it wasn’t something that I’ve ever thought of before. The images and photos that you used really helped me learn and visualize what you were talking about. I was wondering, how do humans affect (negatively or positively) the pH in water and what role do we play in the survival of wetlands?
    Thankyou!
    – Kalayla

    • Hi Kalayla, thanks for watching and that’s a great question! One example of an effect humans have on pH that is negative is our wastewater. Big companies will dump gallons of their wastewater into the water systems that could be filled with acidic chemicals. This can get into wetlands and cause their pH levels to be unstable. We are super important to the survival of wetlands because we are causing most of the problems. Climate change has a huge impact on pH levels because of dirtier water and more acidic rain. If we want to help our wetlands we need to work on becoming more environmentally friendly and try to get big corporations to also try switching to better options of disposing of their chemicals.

  3. Overall it was very clear and you did a really good job covering the three points of your topic. I did think that you gave us a little bit too much time to look at the slides where you weren’t talking but other than that it was all really good. I’m curious because it’s also kind of related to my topic, do trees for example the cottonwood tree that you talked about prefer to live around more acidic water or basic water.

    • Hi, great question Ronan! So, most trees prefer to live in soil or water that is more neutral. Trees also survive in the dirt that is slightly more acidic. If it were to the extremes of either basic or acidic then the tree would probably not be able to survive at all. But, places that are a little bit acidic are perfectly fine for trees. Thanks for the comment!

  4. Hello Clara! I really enjoyed your TALON Talk. I thought it was very informative and i appreciate that you spoke slowly and clearly. I also really enjoyed the images you used. They were a great aid in the process of visualization. I was wondering, how long have you been interested in pH levels, and what originally got you into it?
    Thanks!
    -Kira

    • Hi Kira! Thanks so much for watching my TALONSTalk and for the comment. To answer your question I am not super interested in pH. I really chose my topic because of my love for wetland creatures especially frog and beavers. While I was thinking about ideas for my question I really wanted to look at water quality. I ended up figuring out that pH was a super important part of water quality and something I could measure myself. Though I did find studying pH to be pretty cool I mostly chose my topic because of my love for the wetlands and wanting to protect them.

  5. Hey Clara,

    I really liked your TALONS Talk. I liked how it all came together and how you talked about the different types of trees local to us and the different places that are affected. I especially liked your conclusion about frogs. Growing up going to my cabin I’ve had a lot of experiences catching frogs, salamanders, toads, and different insects. As my cabin is far from any big cities, the lake, and swamp areas just down the road have little pollution and are home to thousands of frogs, fish, and other species of wildlife. My question is, if they found a leaf with a non-acidic (basic) pH and started to plant more of those, could it be harmful for the surrounding environment to be higher up on the pH scale? Also, would it end up eventually making some species of trees extinct?

    -Justin C.

  6. Hey Clara! Really cool TED talk topic. I actually never thought much about how the different types of leaves can affect the pH level of wetlands. I learned a lot about water and pH in general; your talk was extremely informative and had loads of interesting information. A question I had was does it matter the level of salt in the water/does it affect the pH level? For example, if there was a freshwater stream and a saltwater stream, would the level of salt make the saltwater stream’s pH higher or lower, or would it not affect it at all?

  7. Hi Clara!
    Awesome presentation! It was really informative. I found it really interesting to hear about different types of trees and how they affect wetlands. I also love the use of pictures, especially the adorable beaver! My question is, how does deforestation affect wetlands? (By the way, some of the slides in your powerpoint didn’t have sound, but that might’ve just been my computer being weird. So, sorry if you already answered this in your presentation!)

    • Hi, Xylia thanks for your comment! I agree the beavers was really cute! To answer your question deforestation would have a huge effect on wetlands. Trees in wetlands make homes for lots of small animals in the wetlands like owls. It would also affect the soil and water because of all the leaves and branches trees drop. This could change something like the pH. Leaves of trees affect the pH so losing a huge number of trees would cause a change in pH that could affect the environment around it. On the slide problem, I know that I and others had weird glitches where it didn’t show the audio on the slides when it was there. So, I think that is what probably was happening.

  8. Hi, Clara,
    That was a really cool presentation! I liked how you organized it well into well-designed categories. I also liked how you add a lot of detail. It was really interesting how you talked about the types of leaves, I never thought in my whole life that could change the ph level!
    My question is does the season or the environment change the way the leaves change the ph level?
    Joanne

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