How to get drinking water

Mary from New Mexico made the following, very good additions to our latest Earthlearningidea 'Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink' -
"I often use this as a 'challenge' activity, where student teams compete to see who 'best' cleans the water. I offer the students a choice of possible items to filter and let them design their own filters using different layers. The biggest challenge is getting the blue food coloring out of the water. This exercise really works well with the cut off bottles as funnels. If you have a microscope, students can easily see some of the small organisms in the water and you can incubate your own by putting grass clippings in water and letting it sit."
These are positive and enhancing comments which we have published in our 'Extension Ideas'. Thank you Mary!
We shall be very pleased to receive any other suggestions to add to these to take the investigation further.

NEW Earthlearningidea - how to get drinking water

'Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink'. This new activity investigates how to get clean water from dirty 'pond' water. Obtaining clean water to drink is a problem in many countries of the world. Pupils plan, carry out and evaluate a complete investigation, work out the necessary equipment to carry out their investigation and then clean the pond water as best they can. They will soon realise that the water will need further processing before it is suitable to drink. At the end of this activity, they should know that 'pond' water contains suspended solids (plants, rubbish, mud), soluble contaminants that they cannot remove in the classroom, and invisibles, for example, bacteria.
This is a popular activity in the UK; do let us know how your pupils get on either by contacting us by email or by leaving a comment on this blog.
Earthlearningidea - - lots and lots of really good Earth-related activities!

Earth science out of doors

All pupils like to be taken outside the classroom for their lessons. Have you tried this Earthlearningidea 'Earth science out of doors: preserving the evidence'? The pupils have to try to list 6 processes that are happening around them or that have happened in the last few hours. What is the evidence for these processes happening? Which of those pieces of evidence might be preserved if the area became buried? They will realise that there is a progressive loss of evidence as we go back in time. The usual geologists' approach is to use Lyell's principle 'the present is a key to the past'. This activity involves geological reasoning in reverse, i.e. trying to predict the future from the present. Concerns about global climate change have recently involved geologists in trying to predict the future from the past.
How well does this activity work with your group? Have you tried other Earthlearningideas?

Oil and gas trapped in reservoir rocks

This activity demonstrates how oil and gas can be trapped in reservoir rocks beneath the surface - 'Trapped! Why can't oil and gas escape from their underground prison?' At the end of this activity, pupils can explain that oil and gas float on top of water because of their lower density, explain that oil and gas may become trapped underground until they reach an impermeable layer of rock and appreciate the need to control the drilling for oil and gas to avoid 'blowouts' at the surface. This could form part of a lesson on world resources or it could follow a lesson on porosity and permeability.
Please let us know how your pupils get on with this or with any of our Earthlearningideas.

Investigating the resistance of rocks

Ask your pupils why they think some areas are hilly and others are low-lying. Such differences in relief are often caused by the relative resistance to erosion of the rocks that make up these areas - more resistant rocks usually form higher areas. Try this Earthlearningidea using some of your local rocks and let us know how you get on.
Have you tried the other Earthlearningideas about erosion? There are activities to help teach erosion by ice, water and wind and soil erosion. All these can be found by looking up 'Erosion' in our Keywords Index.

NEW Earthlearningidea - Slopes and angles of rest

Our new Earthlearningidea is all about slopes and angles of rest - 'Sandcastles and slopes: what makes sandcastles and slopes collapse?'
Ask the pupils if they have ever built a big sandcastle. What was the steepest angle they could build the side walls of the castle? Could they make a steeper wall if the sand was dampened? Questions like these go well beyond the playground or beach. Many people have been killed by the collapse of unstable slopes of loose rock or sand. This activity investigates the factors which affect the angle at which loose materials rest before they begin to slide.
Please let us know how your pupils get on by writing a comment on this post or contacting us by email.

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