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After some research I found that many 4th grade students would be interested in water filtration. I wanted to create an activity that could be done outside and so I chose this lesson.

Objective:

Problem solve the design challenge

The problem:

How can we create a water filter out of everyday supplies?

Ask:

Can the water filter clear dirty water?

What materials could we use different than their intended purpose?

How do the different filters change the color of the water?

Inspiration taken from:

https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/water_filtration

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Summary Students are asked to design methods to filter water using ordinary materials, while also considering their designs' material and cost efficiencies. They learn about the importance of water and its role in our everyday lives. They come to understand what must occur each day so that they can have clean water.
This engineering curriculum meets Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Engineering Connection

Clean water is not available in all parts of the world. Many people live with polluted water that is unhealthy to drink and bathe in. Civil, environmental , materials and mechanical engineers all contribute to developing technologies and systems to purify unclean water. Purifying water can be done easily if it is a small amount that is fairly clean, but larger amounts that are very polluted are much more complicated. Typical steps for full water treatment include aeration, coagulation, sedimentation, filtration and disinfection.

Learning Objectives

After this activity, students should be able to:

Understand how filtration works.

Create creative design methods.

Problem solve given a design challenge.

Apply mathematics (multiplication) reinforcement.

Engage in teamwork to solve a challenge.

Educational Standards

Each TeachEngineering lesson or activity is correlated to one or more K-12 science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) educational standards.

All 100,000+ K-12 STEM standards covered in TeachEngineering are collected, maintained and packaged by the Achievement Standards Network (ASN), a project of D2L (www.achievementstandards.org).

In the ASN, standards are hierarchically structured: first by source; e.g., by state; within source by type; e.g., science or mathematics; within type by subtype, then by grade, etc.

NGSS Performance Expectation

Click to view other curriculum aligned to this Performance Expectation

This activity focuses on the following Three Dimensional Learning aspects of NGSS:

Science & Engineering Practices

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Crosscutting Concepts

Define a simple design problem that can be solved through the development of an object, tool, process, or system and includes several criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.

Possible solutions to a problem are limited by available materials and resources (constraints). The success of a designed solution is determined by considering the desired features of a solution (criteria). Different proposals for solutions can be compared on the basis of how well each one meets the specified criteria for success or how well each takes the constraints into account.

People's needs and wants change over time, as do their demands for new and improved technologies.

Suggest an alignment not listed above

Materials List

1 liter of water prepared in advance with soil and sand in it until it is thin but relatively opaque

3 test tubes prepared with the water standards "A," "B" and "C" (C is filtered through some grass, B is filtered through a coffee filter, and A is filtered through 2 coffee filters with a paper towel in the middle)

cotton balls

gauze squares

tulle/netting

tissue

paper towels

coffee filters

gravel (aquarium gravel works great)

sand

3 test tubes per student

test tube racks

graduated cylinders

Design Components Worksheet

Worksheets and Attachments
Visit [www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/water_filtration] to print or download.

Introduction/Motivation

One of our most valuable and often overlooked resources is water. We can survive for a few weeks without food, but only a few days without water. Having clean water to drink is a luxury. The water that eventually comes out of our faucets sometimes does not start off being safe to drink. In most cases, it has gone through a water treatment plant designed by engineers prior to reaching our faucets.

Procedure

Background

This is a great activity for students to experience some "real-life" engineering.

Most any materials in a typical classroom can be adapted as filtration materials.

Water from lakes and rivers often has contaminants that make it unfit for drinking. The water may contain dirt, rocks and other objects that can be easily identified. Water may also contain bacteria and other microscopic organisms that cannot be seen easily. For these reasons, water that is delivered to our homes must go through a water treatment process. This is typically a five-part process that consists of aeration, coagulation, sedimentation, filtration and disinfection. This activity is only concerned with filtration, which removes most but not all of the impurities from the water. Make sure students know that in this activity the filtered water is still unfit to drink.
Recommended Resources:
Information on the water treatment process and drinking water standards: https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water.

Information on different types of filters and filtration processes: https://www.thoughtco.com/filtration-definition-4144961.

Before the Activity

With the Students

1. Engineering Challenge: Tell the students they have been hired by (your last name) Water Supply Company. With the ongoing drought, not enough water is available for all the things we need to supply - people, animals and plants. Tell them that they will each be given a sample of the dirty water they have remaining, and show them the tubes "A," "B" and "C." A is nearly ready for human use, B is nearly ready for animal use, and C is nearly ready to feed the plants. Remind them that no one must taste anything in the lab. They will be paid for their supply of filtered water: A gets $10 per ml, B gets $5 per ml, and C gets $1 per ml.

2. Have students complete the worksheet to make sure they understand the activity purpose, and to help them think about the components of engineering design.

3. Put trays of materials in front of the students. Let them decide in teams what materials they would like to use to filter their water. To challenge students, include one of the following constraints:

Limit the amount of materials allowed for the design.

Assign a price per unit of material and give students a budget to work within.

1. Have students draw schematics of the layers. Once completed, give each team 25 ml of the dirty water to begin to filter in their test tubes.

2. Once filtering is complete, have them bring the test tubes to you for observation. Decide if the water is A, B or C grade and help them measure their sample in a graduated cylinder. They must return to their desks and do the math to come up with their $ value. Have students put their $ values on the board.

Assessment

Activity Embedded Assessment

Have students complete the Design Components Worksheet to assess their understanding of the activity and to encourage them to consider the design components involved in design a water filtration system. Sample answers are provided on the Design Components Worksheet Answer Key.

Post-Activity Assessment

Use the attached Rubric for Performance Assessment to evaluate students' design projects using criteria for the final filtering system and teamwork effort.

Investigating Questions

What was the best filtering agent and why?

What are other ways we purify our water?

Design a package for your "clean" water.

Safety Issues

Make sure students know that in this activity the filtered water is still unfit to drink.

Contributors Erin Santini; Erik Rushton

Copyright © 2013 by Regents of the University of Colorado; original © 2004 Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Supporting Program Center for Engineering Educational Outreach, Tufts University

Last modified: October 24, 2019

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Water Filtration Project: Make Your Own Water Filters - Activity

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Students are asked to design methods to filter water using ordinary materials, while also considering their designs' material and cost efficiencies. They learn about the importance of water and its role in our everyday lives. They come to understand what must occur each day so that they can have clean water.

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This is my first sketch.

This sketch only includes two materials that could be used to filter the dirty water.

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This is my second sketch. I planned on putting the cotton balls at the end of the filter. I also did not add a paper towel over the top at this part.

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This is my final plan.

Starting from the bottom up:

-A cup to hold the filtered water

-A cut in half pop bottle to act as the base of the filter

-A coffee filter

-Cotton balls inside the coffee filter

-A mesh cloth / some type of gauze

-The very top will have a paper towel placed on it

This is how I plan to build my filter system as well. I will slowly pour in the dirty water shown at the top of the photo.

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Here is my actual design.

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Test Stage (Continuation of Create Stage):

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Test Stage (Continuation of Create Stage):

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This was my first attempt. It clearly did not work very well!

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Here is my final sketch. On this quick sketch I made I am showing that the paper towel is pushed down in the middle, more than before.

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I chose to fix my design by pushing the paper towel down inside the bottle. I also poured the water a lot slower this time

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This is the water after going through the filter. I think it worked pretty well! The dirt may have made the water a little darker than before but all the mulch and pieces are gone.

Discussion questions: Why is it really important for students (K-12) to have the opportunity to experience/practice/implement the Engineering Design Process? I believe it is really important for students to have this type of practice to improve their problem solving skills. They will begin to look at problems differently. They will see a problem and think "How can I fix this?" Using the Engineering Design Process they will know exactly where to start to solve their problem. This will lead to them being more independent adults and not having to rely as much on others.