Many cool science experiments can easily be carried out at home. These experiments require a day to be completed and also need careful monitoring. If weather conditions interest you there are numerous science projects you can practice at home. Discovering the properties contained in rain is just one of these experiments. An example of a meteorology or environmental science projects involves finding out what is contained in rainwater. Materials needed include a microscope, two containers, funnel, clear tape, a glass pie dish, and filter paper.

The first step of this experiment is obviously to gather some rain in a container. The container should be dry and clean and placed on open ground away from buildings and trees and left until it has collected sufficient rainwater to be examined. The next step is to filter the rainwater. This can be achieved by placing a piece of filter paper in your funnel. The funnel should be attached slotted into a separate, clean, dry container where the newly filtered water will collect. When this has been done you need to dry the filter so that the water evaporates. Turn the oven to 100 degrees Celsius and then place the filter paper on a baking sheet for 15 minutes. While you wait for the filter paper to dry, pour the newly filtered water into your pie dish.

To conclude the experiment when the water has evaporated from both your pie dish and filter paper you can discover what your filtered rain contains. Place your filter paper under the microscope. Using a piece of the clear tape, attach it to the bottom of the pie dish once there is no more moisture. Examine the tape under the miscroscope and then ascertain which particles are present in your newly collected and filtered container of rainwater.

Factories are very closely monitored and very strict rules are put into place in order to protect employees from any type of injury. All the employees must go through a number of stringent safety courses as well.

The more industrialized the industry, in general, the more safety standards are put into place. There are a number of reasons for this. For one thing, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA keeps an extremely watchful eye on factories. They are also tightly unionized and have dozens of unions representing their employees at all times. Unions can help guarantee reasonable work hours, safe working conditions and very competitive wages.

The industries that actually experience the most injuries and fatalities of employees are the ones less closely regulated. One of these industries is agriculture. In fact, agriculture is one of the two most dangerous industries in the United States.

The Numbers

Every year in the United States, an estimated 710 agriculture employees dies while on the job. Other serious issues facing agriculture employees are the high number of permanent, non-fatal injuries. There are around three of these permanent injuries for every fatality.

These permanent injuries and fatalities are most common in the harvest months. The second most risky time is during the planting months.

Agriculture Machinery and Farm Structures

There are a number of reasons why the agriculture industry has such a high number of fatalities and injuries. But by far the most common cause of deaths are accidents caused by farm machinery. Tractor overturn is the single most common fatal agriculture accident. In addition to tractors, the dozens of large machines used for planting and harvesting are extremely dangerous.

These machines contain huge, sharp blades which can cause accidental amputation in less than a second. The safety features on these machines are often inferior in relation to their danger level. Many employees are also not properly schooled in the safety measures that must be taken in order to avoid injury.

In addition to farm machinery, farm structures can be quite dangerous. Indoor farm activities are typically done in confined spaces such as silos. Many agriculture products such as manure also produce toxic gases which can be fatal in small spaces.