Final Translation Script
for
The GLOBE Program
"Protocol Series: Alkalinity"
March 22, 2001
Music up. Title slate appears: Protocol Series: Alkalinity
Effect to a shot of water flowing or splashing over rocks.
Cut to a sound-up of a teacher and students speaking in Spanish. Words will be subtitled on screen in English.
Teacher says "Before we begin taking the alkalinity measurements, what ideas or questions do you have about what we might learn?"
Student says "Alkalinity has a significant effect on water acidity, which can have a great impact on plant life. Let’s check to see the amount and health of the vegetation in the river
Student says . "Our watershed includes granite mountains down to a sandy floodplain. Does this impact the alkalinity of the water?
Student says "As we take our measurements, do you think we will see quick changes, or will it be a slow change over time? What could happen to cause a sudden change?
Cut to Dr. Martha Conklin, University of Arizona, on camera.
SOT: "Alkalinity measures the resistance to the change in pH of a water body. One wants a water body to keep a constant pH, or fairly constant pH because that determines what can live there. If a water body has very low alkalinity, that means it's vulnerable to any type of additions that might change the pH, such as a big rain storm, bringing in slightly acidic rain."
Music sting and graphic bumper: Getting Started
Cut to shot of water body.
1. ALKALINITY IS GENERATED AS WATER DISSOLVES ROCKS CONTAINING CALCIUM CARBONATE, SUCH AS CALCITE AND LIMESTONE. SO, THE AMOUNT OF ALKALINITY IN YOUR WATER BODY OFFERS A CLUE AS TO THE TYPE OF ROCK IN YOUR AREA.
Music up. Cut to dictionary graphic with voiceover. (DEFINITION: Alkalinity. A measure of acid neutralizing capacity)
2. DEFINITION: Alkalinity. A measure of acid neutralizing capacity
Cut to shots of water body.
3. THE HIGHER THE ALKALINTY OF THE WATER SAMPLE, THE MORE ACID CAN BE ADDED TO IT WITHOUT A SIGNIFICANT DROP IN pH.
Cut to shots of students doing protocol, then to individual shots of the materials and equipment used.
4. THE ALKALINITY OF YOUR WATER SAMPLE IS MEASURED WEEKLY. TO DO THE ALKALINITY PROTOCOL, YOU'LL NEED A WATER SAMPLE BOTTLE, LATEX GLOVES AND SAFETY GOGGLES, AN ALKALINITY TEST KIT, DISTILLED WATER AND YOUR DATA SHEETS.
Cut to wide shot of students doing protocol.
5. WHEN MEASURING ALKALINITY, THE OBJECT IS TO FIND OUT HOW MUCH ACID MUST BE ADDED TO THE WATER SAMPLE BEFORE ITS pH COMES DOWN TO A CERTAIN POINT. THE HIGHER THE ALKALINITY, THE MORE ACID YOU’LL NEED TO ADD.
Music sting and graphic bumper--Step By Step
Cut to cinema-verite style footage of students collecting a water sample in the field. Use wipe to effect to shots of students (wearing gloves and goggles) rinsing the test tube with distilled water, and then pouring water sample into the test tube.
6. THESE STUDENTS HAVE COLLECTED THEIR WATER SAMPLE AND ARE NOW FOLLOWING THE DIRECTIONS IN THEIR ALKALINITY TEST KIT TO TEST THE SAMPLE.
Cut to shots of the students adding the color indicator to the sample, being very careful not to spill. Close up as the indicator goes into the water. Cut to wider shot as student GENTLY swirls the solution until it is mixed well. Close up as tube is held up in front of camera to show that it is now colored.
7. THESE STUDENTS HAVE CHOSEN TO USE A DROPPER TO MAKE IT EASIER TO FILL THE TITRATION TUBE PRECISELY TO THE 5 MILLILITER LINE.
FIRST, YOU ADD A COLOR INDICATOR TO THE SAMPLE. AS THE INDICATOR DISSOLVES, THE SOLUTION TURNS BLUE-GREEN.
Cut to shot of students putting the plunger in and dropping titrant into the tube. Go from wide shot to closer shot, and show student gently swirling after each drop. Sound up as the students talk about the color and hold it up to see the change.
8. THEN YOU ADD THE ACID TITRANT DROP BY DROP UNTIL YOU SEE THE COLOR CHANGE TO PINK. THE SHADE OF PINK MAY VARY DEPENDING ON THE COLOR OF YOUR WATER SAMPLE.
Sound up as students look at the scale to figure out what the value is. (If it can be done naturally, have one of the students come up with a different reading and then show the students come to a resolution as to the correct value.)
Music sting and graphic bumper: A Closer Look
Cut to shots of students rinsing the test tube.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN USING YOUR ALKALINITY TEST KIT, IT'S IMPORTANT TO RINSE YOUR TITRATION TUBE WITH DISTILLED WATER.
Cut to shots of students drying the tube.
AND IT'S JUST AS IMPORTANT TO DRY IT.
Cut to shots of students adding the color indicator, capping, swirling, CU of tube after the water has become colored.
9. YOU SHOULD ADD THE COLOR INDICATOR CAREFULLY, THEN CAP THE TITRATION TUBE AND SWIRL GENTLY TO MIX IT.
Cut to shot of student filling titrator. Shot freezes and graphic red arrow points out the correct line to fill to.
10. WHEN YOU'RE READY TO FILL THE TITRATOR, INVERT THE BOTTLE AND SLOWLY WITHDRAW THE PLUNGER UNTIL THE BOTTOM OF THE PLUNGER IS OPPOSITE THE ZERO MARK ON THE SCALE. IF ANY AIR BUBBLES GET IN YOUR TITRATOR, LET OUT THE LIQUID UNTIL THE AIR BUBBLE DISAPPEARS AND TRY FILLING AGAIN.
Cut to shots of the titrant being added and the test tube being swirled. Freeze shot. Arrows move around the test tube to mimic swirling motion. Show students adding the titrant, one drop at a time and discussing the resulting color change of the solution, especially close to the end point of the titration. SU should be something like: "Is this pink enough? Is this the final color change?" "I’m not sure, let’s take a reading and then add one more drop." The students add one drop and the color solution doesn’t change. SU—"The color didn’t change. Let’s use the reading we got before, xx mg/L."
11. YOU SHOULD ALSO SWIRL YOUR TITRATION TUBE AFTER EACH DROP OF ACID TITRANT HAS BEEN ADDED. MAKE SURE TO SWIRL GENTLY, BEING CAREFUL NOT TO LET THE SAMPLE SPLASH ONTO THE TIP OF THE TITRATOR. IF YOU USE UP ALL THE TITRANT AND THE COLOR HASN’T CHANGED, REFILL THE TITRATOR AND CONTINUE. IT’S IMPORTANT TO KEEP ADDING ACID UNTIL YOU’VE SEEN A FULL COLOR CHANGE. IF YOU’RE NOT SURE, TAKE A READING AND ADD ONE MORE DROP. THEN, IF THE COLOR DOESN’T CHANGE, USE THE PREVIOUS READING. IF THE COLOR OF THE SOLUTION DOES CHANGE, KEEP GOING UNTIL THE COLOR HAS STABILIZED.
Cut to sound up of students reading the titrator. Camera zooms on the titrator, video freezes and arrow points out where the reading should be taken (at the very end - tip - of the plunger).
12. AS SOON AS THE FINAL COLOR CHANGE TAKES PLACE, READ THE TEST RESULTS DIRECTLY FROM THE SCALE ON THE TITRATOR. THE READING MUST BE MADE AT THE TIP OF THE PLUNGER. IF YOU HAD TO REFILL THE TITRATOR, REMEMBER TO ADD UP ALL OF THE TITRANT THAT YOU'VE USED BEFORE RECORDING YOUR RESULTS.
Cut to shot of students recording one student's results on data worksheet. Super mg/L CaCO3 over video. Continue shots of students as they collect and write down their results, calculate the average, figure out what the maximum acceptable difference is for their test kit and check to make sure all values are within that range.
13. ALKALINITY IS RECORDED AS "MILLIGRAMS PER LITER CALCIUM CARBONATE" -- C-A-C-O-THREE.. AFTER AT LEAST THREE STUDENTS HAVE MEASURED ALKALINITY, YOU'LL NEED TO TAKE THE AVERAGE OF THE VALUES. AS WITH ALL HYDROLOGY PROTOCOLS THAT REQUIRE YOU TO REPORT AN AVERAGE, YOU'LL NEED TO CHECK THE VALUES TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE ALL WITHIN THE MAXIMUM ACCEPTABLE DIFFERENCE FOR THIS PROTOCOL. FOR ALKALINITY, THE MAXIMUM ACCEPTABLE DIFFERENCE IS THE EQUIVALENT OF ONE DROP, IN MILLIGRAMS PER LITER. REMEMBER THAT IF YOU HAVE MORE THAN THREE MEASUREMENTS, AND YOU HAVE ONE OUTLIER, YOU SHOULD DISCARD THE OUTLIER AND AVERAGE THE REMAINING VALUES. IF YOU HAVE A WIDE SCATTER OF RESULTS, DISCUSS WHAT MIGHT HAVE GONE WRONG AND REPEAT THE PROTOCOL.
Use wipe to effect to soundup of students getting out their standard to test.
14. THE FIRST TIME YOU USE YOUR ALKALINITY TEST KIT AND EVERY SIX MONTHS THEREAFTER, YOU'LL NEED TO CHECK YOUR KIT AND TECHNIQUE BY FOLLOWING THE STEPS OF THIS PROTOCOL ON A STANDARD SOLUTION.
Continue shots of students testing the standard, reading the results, and recording the value.
15. IF YOU'RE NOT WITHIN THE MAXIMUM ACCEPTABLE DIFFERENCE, TRY AGAIN WITH A NEW STANDARD. IF YOU'RE STILL OFF, YOU MIGHT NEED TO GET NEW REAGENTS FOR YOUR KIT.
Music sting and graphic bumper--Oops!
Video is shot with a hand-held camera and appears black and white with hatch marks and a red record button visible around the picture. The overall impression is that we're seeing through the lens of a hidden camera.
The camera shows a student putting a drop of titrant in and then shaking the test tube. A universal "no" sign appears over the hand that's shaking the test tube.
16. NEVER SHAKE THE TITRATION TUBE WHEN YOU'RE DOING THE TITRATION. THE SOLUTION COULD CONTAMINATE THE TIP OF YOUR TITRATOR AND INVALIDATE YOUR READINGS.
Music sting and digital effect as we move to next example. Cut to a shot of a student filling the titrator. A universal "no" sign appears over a bubble in the titrator.
17. THIS STUDENT HAS AN AIR BUBBLE IN HIS TITRATOR. HE NEEDS TO EMPTY IT AND REFILL AGAIN WITHOUT ANY AIR BUBBLES.
Music sting and graphic bumper: Let's Learn
Cut to students and teachers.
Teacher says "Do you have any questions about the alkalinity measurements we've been taking on our pond?"
Student "I think it would be interesting to take the alkalinity in the pond after a big rain storm."
Student says "Or we could check the pH of the rain to see if it changes the alkalinity of the water."
Student says "I want to check the soil around the pond to see if it affects the alkalinity of the water."
Cut to Dr. Martha Conklin on camera.
SOT: "One of the concerns that we have is the gradual acidification of lakes. The GLOBE data will give us some information on that because measuring changes in alkalinity over time will tell us if that process is occurring or not."
Dissolve slowly to our signature shot--water flowing or splashing over rocks. Fade to a shot of the GLOBE Teacher's Guide.
18: FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND MORE DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO DO THIS PROTOCOL, PLEASE REFER TO THE GLOBE PROGRAM TEACHER'S GUIDE.
Fade to black.