http://www.teachengineering.org/view_activity.php?url=collection/wpi_/activities/wpi_water_filtration/water_filtration.xmlactivitytext/xmlCenter for Engineering Educational Outreach, clean waterfilterfiltrationwater

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.

Clean water is not available in all parts of the world. Many people live with polluted water that is unhealthy for them to drink and bath in. Civil, environmental , materials and mechanical engineers all contributoe 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 Understanding of how filtration works.Creative design methods.Problem solving.Mathematics (multiplication) reinforcement.Teamwork to solve a challenge.60TeachEngineering.orgErin Santini, Erik Rushtonhttp://www.teachengineering.org/collection/wpi_/activities/wpi_water_filtration/assessment_worksheet.pdfhttp://www.teachengineering.org/collection/wpi_/activities/wpi_water_filtration/assessment_worksheet.docS101F91AMassachusettsScience1.1 Identify materials used to accomplish a design task based on a specific property, i.e., weight, strength, hardness, and flexibility.35S10047AAMassachusettsScience2.1 Identify a problem that reflects the need for shelter, storage, or convenience.35S100D897MassachusettsScience2.2 Describe different ways in which a problem can be represented, e.g., sketches, diagrams, graphic organizers, and lists.35S100EBE2MassachusettsScience2.3 Identify relevant design features (e.g., size, shape, weight) for building a prototype of a solution to a given problem.35S1023F11MassachusettsMathSelect and use appropriate operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) to solve problems, including those involving money.34United StatesCopyright 2012 - Center for Engineering Educational Outreach, Tufts Universityhttp://www.teachengineering.org/policy_ipp.phphttp://www.teachengineering.org/2011-10-254Teacher