Engineering a Column

Concerns about access to clean, potable water are projected to rise with the ever-drying climate and increase in global population. In this 3-day lesson series, students first learn about the projected "Day Zero" of water supplies in Capetown, South Africa, initially considering reasons for the projected water shortage, then thinking about ways that we could increase the amount of fresh and clean drinking water available to people around the world. Students then examine the issue of water contamination, reviewing teacher-provided resources about the chemicals in water and ways to potentially reduce them. Finally, students work in small groups to build their own columns using a variety of media (cups, activated carbon, paper towels, sand) and design methods to collect data about the effectiveness of their columns to remove contaminants. Students create posters to summarize their findings and identify features that successfully remove visible contamination from water.