Part 2 - Build Your Own Water Filtration Machine (30 Minutes)
- Separate into groups (size of 2 - 4)
- Play Video (05:28) Water Fix! link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYROQW9IDIg
- Introduce Challenge: Clean Earth’s Water
- Review the basic structure of the Water Filtration system (the 2-liter
pop bottle) Note: The structure of the water filtration system starts with the 2-liter bottle that is cut in half. The base of the bottle is the "water tank" that the filtered water flows into. The narrow top half of the bottle is where the students design the filter by arranging the 3 items they picked out of 8 items to choose from. The thought is that the material covered in the first part of the lesson and the preliminary test conducted by the students on each individual item prepares them to design a practical solutions with the materials they selected.
- Pick one dirty water source from the 3 labeled containers
- Pick (3) filtration items
- Test and evaluate each item by itself
- Use [worksheet - Results] to organize materials and document
results
- Review data and build your production filtration system. Students will organize all
three filter items into the funnel half of pop bottle
- Test finished product and document the results on the "Results" worksheet.
- Redesign: allow for an iteration of the final product where students
can swap out one filtration item in an attempt to improve their
results.
4. Debrief [see Debrief worksheet]
- After Final Build results are done, ask each group what happened to
the dirty water as they poured it their filtration systems? Is
that what they expected to happen? Explain.
- In what ways do they think the filter can be more effective?
- Once sufficiently clean, how many glasses of water can their filter
tank hold - remember we cut a 2-liter bottle in approx. one half?
How many containers would they need to produce enough clean water
for one days worth of recommended drinking (64 oz)?
5. Explain that this was just a STEM project that solved a major human
need.