Linked Activities and Supplies
Entry Event
Coke Distillation Just-In-Time Direct Instruction for the entry event.
Water Treatment Lab
Nanometer Scaling Activity
How Big is It? Activity Sugar Dissolution
Separation of Mixtures
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Gallery Walk of Proposals
Comparing Filter Types
Water Characteristics
Preparing a Solution
Does it Pour out?
Sunscreen Lab
Sponge Absorption Lab
Gold Nanoparticles The Big Project
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Description of the Unit Timeline
Our timeline is designed to span two-and-a-half weeks of instruction (13 days) of block-scheduled classes (80 minutes long). This unit will be used to cover the solutions unit and will be taught in the spring. Typically, the solutions unit will follow mastery of types and properties of matter, forces and bonding, and stoichiometry.
Technology Available to Students
- Chromebook, iPad, Laptop
- Google Docs
- Google Sheets
- Google Slides
Description of Technology Use
- All students will have access to an internet capable device (iPad, Laptop, or Chromebook). Due to the timing of this unit, the students should be adept with this technology.
- Each student will be using a water testing kit to determine the concentration of different impurities in water. This kit will come with instructions and the teacher will provide a demonstration prior to the lab beginning.
- Students will perform a distillation, all of the equipment in this lab will have been used before. The construction of the apparatus will be displayed for the class.
- All other lab equipment will have been used in class prior to this unit, so no additional training will be required.
Behind the Entry Event
In order to foster student-driven inquiry, the entry event will be exciting and provide a shock-factor so that students are interested in the problem of drinking water quality.
To begin, the instructor will bring in a bottle of ginger ale that contains raisins. The carbonation within the soda will cause the raisins to rise and fall within the bottle and will resemble unsanitary bathroom waste. The teacher will also have a bottle of clear water. The teacher should mention that the water was taken from a local pond, stream, or just found this bottle of water randomly and ask if any student would like to drink it. Either the instructor or a student in the class will drink the water and the students will be disgusted and surprised to find out that it is not dirty water but simply just soda. This will be a good lead-in to how water samples are different throughout the world and how some people do not have access to clean water supplies.
Next, we will use an ÖKOpure water bottle in which you can fill it with Coca Cola and when you squeeze it out of the bottle through the filter, you are just left with clear water. This will allow the students to see how intricate filtration processes can be and how many impurities can be removed. This will also really engage the students into thinking about water purification and filtration.
We will then have the students complete a distillation of Coca Cola in which they will be able to remove all of the substances from the soda and leave them with just distilled water. Again, this will get students focused and engaged on the driving question at hand.
Overall, all of these examples to be used in our entry event will really engage students with shock-value and keep them interested and engaged in the topic. After seeing these different examples, students should be interested in exploring how the water bottle filters work, how the distillation process works, how it can be applied to drinking water globally, and how they can manipulate these processes to develop a better drinking water management system, which will be an essential start in exploring our driving question.
To begin, the instructor will bring in a bottle of ginger ale that contains raisins. The carbonation within the soda will cause the raisins to rise and fall within the bottle and will resemble unsanitary bathroom waste. The teacher will also have a bottle of clear water. The teacher should mention that the water was taken from a local pond, stream, or just found this bottle of water randomly and ask if any student would like to drink it. Either the instructor or a student in the class will drink the water and the students will be disgusted and surprised to find out that it is not dirty water but simply just soda. This will be a good lead-in to how water samples are different throughout the world and how some people do not have access to clean water supplies.
Next, we will use an ÖKOpure water bottle in which you can fill it with Coca Cola and when you squeeze it out of the bottle through the filter, you are just left with clear water. This will allow the students to see how intricate filtration processes can be and how many impurities can be removed. This will also really engage the students into thinking about water purification and filtration.
We will then have the students complete a distillation of Coca Cola in which they will be able to remove all of the substances from the soda and leave them with just distilled water. Again, this will get students focused and engaged on the driving question at hand.
Overall, all of these examples to be used in our entry event will really engage students with shock-value and keep them interested and engaged in the topic. After seeing these different examples, students should be interested in exploring how the water bottle filters work, how the distillation process works, how it can be applied to drinking water globally, and how they can manipulate these processes to develop a better drinking water management system, which will be an essential start in exploring our driving question.
Engagement of Higher-Order-Thinking for Mastery of Nanoscience
The ideas and concepts relating to nanoscience are going to be hard for students to grasp since nanotechnology is not something they can directly observe in the natural world. Furthermore, students may have several misconceptions from science fiction movies and TV shows that may affect how they think about nanoscience. Finally, students will have a hard time being able to provide examples of the concepts associated with nanoscience and how nanoscience already exists in society and the natural. Therefore, we will use activities and experiments that engage the students in higher-order thinking skills to master nanoscience content while tying those nanoscale principles into the chemical world as well.
Size and Scaling
Because the concept of size and scale is critical to chemical and nanoscience concepts, students will be able to master their understanding of size and scale in our unit. Because atoms and their components are even smaller than the nanoscale, students will already have a foundation of size and scale. However, we will push our students to create their own real-life example of a nanometer and have them relate that to what a meter would be using another real life example (distance to the moon and back, etc.) using the Nanometer Scaling Activity. This will allow our students to think critically about the size and scale concept and really get them to master how small nanoscience and atoms really are. Furthermore, students will be using dimensional analysis throughout calculations in this unit, including calculations of molarity and using the mole concept, which will solidify student knowledge of nano-scaling.
Forces and Interactions
Furthermore, the concept of forces and interactions specifically electrostatic forces, is critical in both chemistry and nanoscience. Because atoms are attracted more through electrostatic forces rather than gravitational forces at such a small scale students will already have a basis of this knowledge. We plan to help students master this concept with the “Does It Pour?” activity. With this activity, students have to develop a reason why water will pour out of a large Eppendorf tube but will not pour out of a small one. Then, students will need to apply this knowledge to create their own container out of clay that will not pour out water. This will allow our students to apply current understanding of electrostatic forces to a novel situation, really providing our students to master the idea of electrostatic forces at a nano-level.
Surface-Area-to-Volume Ratio
Another critical concept shared between nanoscience and chemistry is the idea of surface-area-to-volume ratio. In solutions, substances dissolve faster when there is a larger surface area due to increased surface interactions. The same concept holds true with nanoscience, in that the more exposed surface area, the more that interactions can take place. We will have students master this concept by dissolving granulated sugar, powdered sugar and sugar cubes in water while using other conditions, such as agitation and temperature. This will not only help students master the surface-area-to-volume portion of nanoscience, but also solidify major concepts on dissolution and solutions that are key to the chemistry content standards.
All of the above concepts can be related to size-dependent properties, which are affected at nanoscale level because of how small the particles are. We will allow students to analyze sunscreens that contain or do not contain nanoparticles and the students will see how the properties of the sunscreens are different. This will allow students to master the idea of size-dependent properties and solidify their understanding of the concepts of forces and interactions, size and scale, and surface-area-to-volume ratio.
Size and Scaling
Because the concept of size and scale is critical to chemical and nanoscience concepts, students will be able to master their understanding of size and scale in our unit. Because atoms and their components are even smaller than the nanoscale, students will already have a foundation of size and scale. However, we will push our students to create their own real-life example of a nanometer and have them relate that to what a meter would be using another real life example (distance to the moon and back, etc.) using the Nanometer Scaling Activity. This will allow our students to think critically about the size and scale concept and really get them to master how small nanoscience and atoms really are. Furthermore, students will be using dimensional analysis throughout calculations in this unit, including calculations of molarity and using the mole concept, which will solidify student knowledge of nano-scaling.
Forces and Interactions
Furthermore, the concept of forces and interactions specifically electrostatic forces, is critical in both chemistry and nanoscience. Because atoms are attracted more through electrostatic forces rather than gravitational forces at such a small scale students will already have a basis of this knowledge. We plan to help students master this concept with the “Does It Pour?” activity. With this activity, students have to develop a reason why water will pour out of a large Eppendorf tube but will not pour out of a small one. Then, students will need to apply this knowledge to create their own container out of clay that will not pour out water. This will allow our students to apply current understanding of electrostatic forces to a novel situation, really providing our students to master the idea of electrostatic forces at a nano-level.
Surface-Area-to-Volume Ratio
Another critical concept shared between nanoscience and chemistry is the idea of surface-area-to-volume ratio. In solutions, substances dissolve faster when there is a larger surface area due to increased surface interactions. The same concept holds true with nanoscience, in that the more exposed surface area, the more that interactions can take place. We will have students master this concept by dissolving granulated sugar, powdered sugar and sugar cubes in water while using other conditions, such as agitation and temperature. This will not only help students master the surface-area-to-volume portion of nanoscience, but also solidify major concepts on dissolution and solutions that are key to the chemistry content standards.
All of the above concepts can be related to size-dependent properties, which are affected at nanoscale level because of how small the particles are. We will allow students to analyze sunscreens that contain or do not contain nanoparticles and the students will see how the properties of the sunscreens are different. This will allow students to master the idea of size-dependent properties and solidify their understanding of the concepts of forces and interactions, size and scale, and surface-area-to-volume ratio.
Student Investigations to Answer the Driving Question
Exploration from Multiple Perspectives
Since we want to foster multiple ideas and perspectives for the projects to support the driving question, our driving question was specifically created to be vague and open-ended. The driving question, “How could nanoscience affect the quality of our drinking water?,” leads students to think of several different routes and avenues to explore related to water quality and nanoscience. Below is where student projects can diverge in the classroom to meet the common goal of solving our driving question.
Breaking down the driving question into its key components, we can predict the different avenues that students could take to answer the question, since it is very open-ended, as follows:
“Our drinking water”
Students will explore drinking water from the perspective of...
“Affect the quality”
Students will explore the quality of drinking water from the perspective of...
“Nanoscience”
Students will explore nanoscience from the perspective of...
Besides having an open-ended driving question, if the instructor wants to ensure varied projects, the teacher will...
Data Collection & Analysis
For this project, students will need to collect and analyze data on the following:
Students may also explore any of the above questions in the "Exploration from Multiple Perspectives" section for data collection and analysis.
Necessary Evidence to Support Claims & Solutions
In order for students to be successful in supporting their claims and solutions, students must answer:
Since we want to foster multiple ideas and perspectives for the projects to support the driving question, our driving question was specifically created to be vague and open-ended. The driving question, “How could nanoscience affect the quality of our drinking water?,” leads students to think of several different routes and avenues to explore related to water quality and nanoscience. Below is where student projects can diverge in the classroom to meet the common goal of solving our driving question.
Breaking down the driving question into its key components, we can predict the different avenues that students could take to answer the question, since it is very open-ended, as follows:
“Our drinking water”
Students will explore drinking water from the perspective of...
- their own home
- their school
- their community
- their state
- their country
- the global community
“Affect the quality”
Students will explore the quality of drinking water from the perspective of...
- the types of components of drinking water that are beneficial
- the types of components of drinking water that are harmful
- the typical concentrations of substances that are good or bad in our drinking water
- what happens when too much or too little of a substance is in the drinking water
- How we can manage our clean drinking water
- How we can help purify dirty drinking water
- What are the sources of these contaminants
- What types of methods are already in use to clean or maintain our drinking water
- Is removing all substances from water a good thing
“Nanoscience”
Students will explore nanoscience from the perspective of...
- how nanotechnology can be incorporated into existing water purification systems
- the methods that are used to clean water currently (filtration, distillation)
- the types of nano-sized contaminants that exist in water and how they can be removed
- The effects of the surface-area-to-volume ratio, forces of attraction and size and scaling on nanoscience and how it can relate to water purification
Besides having an open-ended driving question, if the instructor wants to ensure varied projects, the teacher will...
- Collect ideas from the class of different aspects to explore and have groups select a specific topic to explore via random drawing
- Assign specific topics or research areas to the groups to differentiate their thoughts and ideas on how to solve the problem
Data Collection & Analysis
For this project, students will need to collect and analyze data on the following:
- What substances in water are good? What substances are bad?
- What are typical concentrations of good chemicals in water?
- What concentrations of chemicals are in the drinking water sample the group is analyzing?
- Comparing components of different drinking waters and analyzing how they are similar and different.
- How do different purification methods remove the different impurities?
Students may also explore any of the above questions in the "Exploration from Multiple Perspectives" section for data collection and analysis.
Necessary Evidence to Support Claims & Solutions
In order for students to be successful in supporting their claims and solutions, students must answer:
- What levels of impurities were previously in the drinking water and how their purification system can reduce those levels?
- What impurities are found in the water and which one their solution will get rid of?
- How their solution incorporates nanotechnology?
- How their solution maintains the proper balance of substances and pH suitable for drinking?
- How this system explicitly solves the problems found within the water supply being tested, and how they can apply their solution to a different source of drinking water (global drinking water problem, etc.)?
Helping Students Choose the Appropriate Tools
In order for students to be successful with this project, they must be instructed on how to choose the appropriate tools for the project. The facilitator can accomplish this in several ways:
Resources to help students understand how to research, find information, and evaluate resources:
Resources and tools that students will use to help guide their projects and questioning include:
- Utilizing laboratory activities that allow the students to see different resources used to purify and test drinking water. From this, students can get an idea of what materials they need to create their project, how they can test the water, and how they can determine if their solution is working.
- Bringing in outside experts to talk to the students in the class. This will provide students with new insights into the water purification process and provide them with new resources to use for their projects.
- Providing prompts for student-driven research on various topics and allowing for small group presentations on this research and their laboratory findings to help them prepare for a final presentation of their entire project.
Resources to help students understand how to research, find information, and evaluate resources:
- How to research science information: Click Here.
- How to evaluate resources: Click Here.
Resources and tools that students will use to help guide their projects and questioning include:
- Different Contaminants in Drinking Water: http://www.drinkmorewater.com/water-101
- Water Quality Reports for Indiana: http://www.amwater.com/inaw/water-quality-and-stewardship/water-quality-reports.html
- Well Water Contaminants: https://geoinfo.nmt.edu/labs/chemistry/watereval.html
- Drinking Water Contaminants: http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/
- Why pH is important: http://water.usgs.gov/edu/ph.html
- Disinfectants in Drinking Water: http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/basicinformation/disinfectants.cfm
- Water Hardness: http://water.usgs.gov/edu/hardness.html
Creating Student Ownership, Engagement and Involvement
The overarching project for this unit is tied to the local water quality for the region. Because the project is based in the local region for the school, the students should feel some ownership inherently. We are also providing the student with current levels observed by an American water inspector in their area so that they can have an idea of what impurities are in their water so they can see that water impurities are not a foreign, far away problem, but one that affects them. The students in the overall project will then begin to investigate which impurities we want in water, and why completely pure water can be a bad thing. The students will get to pick which impurities they will focus on, in that giving them voice into which impurities they feel are most troubling.
Students will take ownership of this project when they bring in their own water samples to be tested in the Water Characteristics lab. This will allow students to see what types of contaminants are in the water they are looking to test and help them develop ideas for purifying this drinking water source they are interested. Students can even compare different water samples if desired to further their understanding of water contaminants and how they differ between different sources.
Furthermore, we will help students create ownership of their projects by having them reflect on which lab activities are beneficial to their project throughout the week.
Students will take ownership of this project when they bring in their own water samples to be tested in the Water Characteristics lab. This will allow students to see what types of contaminants are in the water they are looking to test and help them develop ideas for purifying this drinking water source they are interested. Students can even compare different water samples if desired to further their understanding of water contaminants and how they differ between different sources.
Furthermore, we will help students create ownership of their projects by having them reflect on which lab activities are beneficial to their project throughout the week.