In Portugal 

Spring in 2024

March 

Barreiro, Metropolitan area of Lisbon

Story 

CSI Group

and 

The Adventure 

in Portugal

CSI GROUP AND TEACHER INVESTIGATE

    There was a group of young people created by Teacher Maria who met regularly to deal with issues related to the environment. They were very diligent and interested in improving the conditions they had in their city. They were already known to everyone for their interventions with the population. They gave a name to their group: "CSI.labfq” because they were going to investigate Science and Sustainability.

    One day, they were gathered in their laboratory researching the local flora and fauna when suddenly they received a call from Spain informing them that there were a lot of plastics in Spanish waters.  They wanted to know if Portugal was going through the same situation. The group was surprised and decided to investigate.

    - We should go to the Coina River because it is connected to the Atlantic Ocean. We can measure the pH, electrical conductivity, and biological species present. Thus, we check the quality of the water to verify if there are any problems - informed Maria.

    The group was very motivated because, whenever they went to the countryside, they got into great adventures while protecting the nature.

    - We will need to take the mini-boat to collect the water samples, the pH and electrical conductivity meter, glasses to keep and observe some species and identify them, a tape measure and a timer to measure the water speed, binoculars and a camera - informed Anthony as he was responsible for the material.

    As it was an urgent matter, the CSI immediately headed for the river. When they got there, everything looked normal, with no trace of pollution. However, because they already had experience, they knew they had to dig deeper.

    - Oh no! There's a Louisiana red crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) over there! This is a sign that there are invasive species, since it is originally from the United States.

    - I also see pine trees over there! Another invasive species. This is a bad sign as they will cause the disappearance of native species.