The Future of Education

Although there is a variety of issues concerning the future of humanity, one of the categories that cause the biggest issues are environmental issues. Environmental issues can also be categorized, and one of the biggest concerns is the cleanliness of water sources. Heavy metals such as Cadmium (Cd), Lead (Pb), Copper (Cu), Arsenic (As), and Mercury (Hg), can have detrimental effects on human health if they enter the human metabolism. Heavy metals can enter a water supply by industrial and consumer waste, or even from acidic rain breaking down soils and releasing heavy metals into streams, lakes, rivers, and groundwater, and thus, can enter the human body. The real problem is to find a way to extract these heavy metals from water. The focus of this research was solely on a method to remove Cadmium from the water. The research also tested what kind of materials could be used for this. Cadmium Sulfate hydrate solutions (3 CdSO₄ * 8 H₂O) were prepared and used olive leaves as a sorbent to remove the cadmium from the water. Initial and final concentrations were calculated to see if there was any effect on the cadmium amount. Additionally, the research was repeated to observe the effects of external effects such as temperature, initial concentration, sorbent amount, and pH. During this study not only was a solution for the heavy metal issue repeated, but the knowledge that was attained in chemistry courses was surpassed and experimental and theoretical bases were put into use. It is an experience that anyone interested in lab procedures should go through. Not only can they gain the experience of researching, but they can also learn more depth about concepts that they learn in class in science education. 

Keywords: Heavy metals, environment pollution, oil leave, spectrophotometry;