Bergen County in a Pickle

In Bergen County, NJ administrators had to resort to pickle juice as a de-icing agent. As their plowing budget was thinning out, they had to find a cheaper solution to melting the snow. The pickle juice successfully melted the snow because of its high salt content. Salt melts snow because when combined with the snow, it lowers the point at which the water freezes. "We actually pre-spray the properties, the sidewalks, the parking lots as a preventative before the snow is uncontrollable,” Bergen County Public Works Director Joe Crifasi stated. I believe that using pickle juice as a salt substitute is a smart idea. It is cheaper and just as effective. This is very useful information as we could use it in our next snow storm as a low-cost alternative.






http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/01/29/winter-dill-emma-bergen-county-n-j-turns-to-pickle-juice-to-melt-snow/#ixzz1CZP0QVZQ

Genetics

Currently in science, we are learning about genetics. Genetics is all about the passing down of traits from parents to offspring. To understand genetics better, we use punnet squares. Punnet squares organize the possible outcomes of allele combinations such as 50% heterozygous, 25% homozygous recessive and 25%homozygous dominant. Heterozygous is two different alleles and homozygous are two of the same alleles. I enjoy learning about this specific topic in science because it is interesting to find out more about what makes people look like one parent more than the other and how they get their traits. It also makes me wonder about my family's history, what my relatives looked like and what different alleles my sister and i have. This is my favorite topic because i get to learn more about my relatives through my appearance.