The changing climate is at the very core of First Nations’ concerns, affecting our ability to access our traditional foods, medicines and territories. We are more directly and immediately affected by environmental change because we live closer to the land. In the school, we recently started to have our Native Language Classes and our teacher had been talking about a hole in the sky which lets harmful elements go through. She said it was above our community and it causes a lot of diseases.

For centuries, First Nations people found all of the medicine they needed on the land, using plants to treat a variety of diseases and conditions. The Earth is a very nurturing mother for her children, and she made sure everything we need will be provided. Our connectedness with nature inspired us to do our project which explored the healing properties of the willow tree against one of the most common infections we have in our community.

While swimming on the beaches of Prince Edward Island you may encounter an aggressive crab. Unlike other crabs on PEI, this one will not run away and hide, but will try to attack your feet! This ocean menace is called the European Green Crab (Carcinus maenas) and is interesting and important not just because of the danger to human toes but due to the fact that they are not native to Canada. They are threatening other crab and ocean species. Not only are green crabs are aggressive predators but they are also destroying marine life habitats by eating eelgrass and other vegetation.

Have you ever wondered why people are right or left-handed? Have you ever wondered if your dog has a preferred paw? For hundreds of years, humans were the only known species scientists believed to have lateralization. (Robinson, Becker, Camp, 1983). Many scientists have overlooked the possibility that other species could have lateralization preferences too. In order to determine whether or not dogs have lateralization preferences, a series of four tests with ten repetitions was done. Through these tests, the relationship between lateralization in dogs and their paw preference was explored.

The aim of this project was to investigate eugenol (EU) as a bactericidal compound (compound capable of killing bacteria) in saliva (using oral bacteria and probiotics) for gum disease treatment while comparing these to the effects that lactoferrin (LF) and salivary salts had on EU’s ability to kill bacteria. Additionally, other forms of EU were tested, methyl eugenol (ME) and acetyl eugenol (AC-EU) to determine which functional group on the benzene ring is responsible for the bactericidal effect.

This project was designed to develop and produce a low cost, environmentally friendly, and effective product to eliminate fruit flies. The inspiration to do this project was obtained from watching family members constantly trying to swat these tiny insects that appeared out of nowhere, most commonly in the kitchen but also all over the house. My research was very helpful in figuring out the best household substances to use to eliminate fruit flies. There have been many ideas about how to best eliminate fruit flies, but few are effective. Two of the least effective substances for attracting them are vodka and Kahlua. I did some research and found out that this is because fruit flies are not attracted to fermented sugars in high volumes which is what alcohol is made of.

I’ve been diagnosed with a learning disability in reading. When I read, the words on the page move around, I skip over words or read words that aren’t there. I get tired easily and I am a very slow reader. Sometimes I don’t even know what I’ve read. However, I’ve been using blue overlays when reading. This is an adaptation suggested by a school learning assistant who had noticed that coloured overlays helped her own child read.

One of the most persistent themes in science fiction, for many years, has been that of the self-driving car. Over the last 5 years, advances in machine learning and the advent of extremely powerful, low-cost graphics processing units (GPUs) have begun to make this dream a reality. It promises to make our roads much safer and more efficient.

Quantum dots have many applications ranging from bio imaging to making TV screens (2,3). Carbon quantum dots not only have the potential to substitute CdSe quantum dots but can be more efficient as the production of these dots are financially reduced and the toxicity is much lower than CdSe quantum dots.

Dragon fruit, or pitaya, is a structurally unique plant indigenous to the Americas. While dragon fruit pulp is usually consumed entirely, its peel is often disposed as organic waste. The objective of this project was to test the various bioactivities and applications of phytochemicals from commonly wasted dragon fruit peel, which both adds value to dragon fruit and minimizes its associated waste disposal problems.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), the burning of fossil fuels for electricity and heat accounts for 25% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which in turn contribute to climate change (USEPA, 2017). Despite the impressive growth in renewable energy, the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the US Energy Information Administration (USEIA) have estimated that fossil fuels will still account for 77% of all energy produced in 2040 (IEA, 2017; USEIA, 2017). Therefore, it is crucial to develop a sustainable solution that can effectively reduce the release of CO2 into the atmosphere without causing additional financial losses to fossil fuel-based power industries.

Recently, I have had family and friends struggle with suicidal thoughts. Suicide is the ninth leading cause of death in Canada with 4405 deaths in 2017 (Statistics Canada, 2018). I wondered what factors would lead to suicide but recognized it would be inappropriate to interview individuals who have struggled with suicidal thoughts as such conversations could be a trigger. However, statistical analyses have always fascinated me and I learned I could access health and mortality data from Statistics Canada, and used these to study suicide in Canada.

Acute myeloid leukemia is a type of cancer caused by the formation of abnormal, undifferentiated, myeloblasts (a type of white blood cell), red blood cells or platelets. In leukemia, these immature blood cells, commonly referred to as “blast cells”, are overproduced and disseminated into the bloodstream. These blast cells do not mature into normal bloods cells but instead develop abnormally, crowding out normal blood cells and prevent them from functioning.

Canadians consume an average of 3400 mg of sodium daily, far more than the recommended allowance of 2300 mg, with 85% of men and 60% of women aged 9 to 70 consuming over the upper recommended limit. 90% of dietary sodium is consumed as sodium chloride (NaCl), and sodium is necessary to assist in cell function and blood volume control, however overconsumption is responsible for approximately 30% of all hypertension (high blood pressure) diagnosed in Canada. Hypertension is well established as a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, and blood vessel diseases of the eye and brain.

This paper investigated the effects of several environmental factors, specifically temperature and salt concentration, on the surface spreading of crude oil on water in order to better understand the behaviour of oil after an ocean spill. Current literature does not appear to encompass adequate environmental factors in oil modeling predictions that describe the dispersion of oil after a spill. Therefore, this research aimed to explore experimentally whether water temperature and salinity significantly affect the surface spread of oil on water, and if they should be included in future oil-spill prediction softwares.

People see afterimages when the rods and cones in our eyes become fatigued, but do they get tired more easily the more we age? The human eye naturally changes over time. However, there is evidence that people lose more rods than cones. A young person’s eye has more rods than cones- rods outnumber cones by nine to one- but only in the part of the eye around the macula. A recent autopsy study of older adults found that the cones remained intact but about a third of the rods near the macula had disappeared.

Prolonged sitting, as most of us do when working and studying every day, can lead to many health concerns and conditions. These include obesity, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, as well as many others. A meta-analysis report by Biswas et al. (2015) found that greater sedentary time was positively associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes. On the other hand, prolonged standing can lead to discomfort in the legs, back, and shoulders. Unlike sitting, standing has many benefits to the mind, body, and overall health. However, there is a simple solution to the problem of discomfort: sit-stand desks. These specialized work surfaces allow the individual to change posture throughout the day, which can lead to reduction in work stress, discomfort, and psychological strain (MacEwen et al., 2014).