4 WATER TESTS

CHAPTER 4 WATER TESTS After a sad and quiet lunch, Sassafras and I went back to the stream. I brought a cup for a water sample and my science journal. When we got there, I took out my journal and wrote: QUESTION:

在一顿悲伤而安静的午餐后，我和萨萨弗拉斯回到小溪边。 我带了一个装水样的杯子和我的科学杂志。 当我们到达那里时，我拿出日记写道：问题：

Is our stream polluted? OBSERVATIONS: No mayfly babies. No caddisfly babies I bent over and scooped up some stream water with the cup. This time, I was careful not to get any water on my hands or feet. I tucked my journal under my arm, and Sassafras and I walked straight back home. We found Mom in her office with Dad. I handed her the water sample I'd carried home from the stream. "Thanks, sweetie. Do you want to help me?" I darted over to Mom's side. I was excited to help. And also a little scared of what the tests might tell us. I was just as worried about the stream bugs as I'd be about any magical animals. Now that I

我们的河流被污染了吗？观察：没有蜉蝣宝宝。 我弯下腰，用杯子舀了一些溪水。 这一次，我小心翼翼地不让水沾到我的手或脚上。 我把日记夹在腋下，和萨萨弗拉斯一起径直走回家。 我们发现妈妈和爸爸在办公室。 我把从小溪带回家的水样递给她。 “谢谢,亲爱的。你想帮我吗？”我飞快地跑到妈妈身边。 我很高兴能帮忙。也有点害怕测试可能告诉我们的结果。 我对溪流里的虫子就像对任何神奇的动物一样担心。 既然我

thought about it, I hoped the polluted stream wasn't hurting the magical creatures in the forest too! "There's still a chance that the stream isn't polluted, right, Mom?" "Yes. We won't know until we run some tests." She put kits with tubes and little tablets on the counter. I peeked at the supplies. I loved when my mom let me use the same tools that real grown-up scientists use in their labs. I poked a finger at one of the shiny plastic cards with different colored squares. Mom looked down at me. "You're going to use real chemicals to test the water sample. So what do you need for your eyes?" "My Thinking Goggles!" I dashed to my room, grabbed my lucky goggles, and ran back to help my mom. I usually wore my Thinking Goggles on top of my head (close to my brain) to give me good ideas. But this time I used them in the usual way on the front of my face. Keep my eyes safe. Mom opened a tiny tube filled with little strips of paper. Let's test for ph first. Put on the gloves, then fill an empty test tube with some of the stream water Next, add a strip of paper and watch it. It will

想了想，我希望被污染的小溪也没有伤害到森林里的神奇生物！“还有可能小溪没有被污染，对吧，妈妈？”“是的。 我们要做些检查才能知道。” 她把装有试管和小药片的药箱放在柜台上。 我瞥了一眼供应品。我喜欢我妈妈让我使用真正成年科学家在实验室里使用的工具。 我用手指戳了戳其中一张有不同颜色方块的闪亮塑料卡片。 妈妈低头看着我。“你要用真正的化学物质来测试水样。 那么你的眼睛需要什么呢？”“我的思维护目镜！”我冲进房间，抓起幸运护目镜，跑回去帮妈妈。 我通常把“思考镜”戴在头顶（靠近大脑的地方），以获得好的想法。 但这一次，我用平常的方式在我的脸的前面。 保护我的眼睛。妈妈打开一个装满纸条的小管子。 我们先测一下ph值。戴上手套，然后在一个空试管中加入一些溪水，然后加一张纸条，然后观察它。 它将

change color after about a minute. Once the color stops changing, pull it out and match it to one of the colored squares on this card." I did all the things she said. It took me a minute to decide which square matched the color of the paper strip. "I'm pretty sure it matches square number ten. What does that mean, Mom?" Dad shook his head sadly. "It means that there's definitely something in our stream," Mom said. "A normal stream would be close to seven. Pollution can cause that number to go really low or really high, depending on what is being added. This is a clue, though. We know that whatever was added to the stream has a high pH number. Let's run one more test to see if we can guess what type of pollution it is."

大约一分钟后变色。 一旦颜色停止变化，把它拿出来，把它和这张卡上的一个彩色方块匹配起来。” 我照她说的做了。 我花了一分钟来决定哪个方块与纸条的颜色相匹配。 “我很确定它和十号方块匹配。 这是什么意思，妈妈？”爸爸伤心地摇了摇头。 “这意味着我们的小溪里肯定有什么东西，”妈妈说。 “正常的流量将接近7。 污染会导致这个数字变得非常低或非常高，这取决于添加的是什么。 不过，这是一条线索。我们知道无论什么加入到流中都有很高的pH值。 让我们再做一个测试，看看我们是否能猜出它是什么类型的污染。”

She pulled out a new test tube. This time I got to put a tablet inside the tube and shake it. The stream water changed from clear to a pretty blue in the tube.

她拿出一根新的试管。 这次我要把药片放进管子里，然后摇晃它。 在管子里，溪水从清澈变成了美丽的蓝色。

Mom and Dad both frowned when they saw the color. "It's testing positive for phosphates," Mom said to Dad. Then she turned to me. "These results definitely explain why you didn't see any mayfly or caddisfly nymphs. My best guess is that there's some kind of soap or detergent getting into our stream." I set the tube down with a frown and wrote in my science journal:

妈妈和爸爸看到这个颜色时都皱起了眉头。 “磷酸盐检测呈阳性，”妈妈对爸爸说。 然后她转向我。“这些结果绝对解释了为什么你没有看到任何蜉蝣或球蛾若虫。 我最可能的猜测是，有某种肥皂或洗涤剂进入了我们的溪流。” 我皱着眉头放下管子，在我的科学杂志上写道：