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  • Water — The Universal Solvent

    Book Chapter |

    Water is often called the universal solvent because so many substances will dissolve in it. Why do so many substances dissolve readily in water? In this Activity, you will explore the solubility of various substances in…

  • Water Can Be Supercool!

    Book Chapter |

    Even though we cannot see it, water vapor is almost always present in the air, regardless of the temperature. This means that water vapor can exist at any temperature. What about liquid water? Can water exist as a…

  • Mirror full of water

    Book Chapter |

    “It’s done with mirrors.” Whether we attend magic shows or ride the “Haunted Mansion,” we are often surprised and pleased by clever manipulations of images. This chapter looks at the image produced by a concave mirror…

  • Water So Old

    Book Chapter |

    In this lesson, two siblings debate whether the water they drink has always been on Earth and has been used by other living things. Key words and concepts covered are water cycle. Crosscutting concepts explored are…

  • Modeling Water Filtration

    Book Chapter |

    Model-eliciting activities (MEAs) create opportunities to incorporate new standards and evaluate teacher performance. MEAs are simulated real-world problems that integrate engineering, mathematical, and scientific…

  • Water Cycle Diagram

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the water cycle. The probe is designed to find out what students think a representation of the water cycle should include to show evaporation and…

  • Water Leaves “Footprints”

    Book Chapter |

    In this chapter, the objective of the activity “Sand Movers” is to explore how water can move sand and to use evidence to back up children’s scientific claims. Chapters 1 and 2 are also included in this book selection.…

  • Looking Through Water

    Book Chapter |

    This activity is about looking through empty cups and water-filled cups to see how things appear. Give each child an empty cup and one half-filled with water. Ask them to look through their cups at each other and at…

  • Water Drops as Art

    Book Chapter |

    This activity is for dropping water on a semi-absorbent surface to see what happens. Children can work in pairs with one dropping colored water from an eyedropper into a box, and the other one tilting the box to see…

  • Water for All Challenge

    Book Chapter |

    In this final lesson, students use the knowledge they have accumulated throughout the module to complete the Water for All Challenge. The teams design and build desaladoras—desalination devices that use passive solar…

  • A Wearable Water Filter

    Book Chapter |

    This case study provides a summary and history of a study on cholera. In this lesson, students explore how researchers developed a new solution to cholera outbreaks in some regions of the world. After watching women use…

  • What Is Happening to Our Water?

    Journal Article |

  • Biosand Filters for Water Purification

    Journal Article |

  • Dirty Water? Clean It Up!

    Journal Article |

  • Where Did the Water Go?

    Book Chapter |

    In this Data Puzzle, students calculate the amount of precipitation that fell in a watershed over the course of one year and the amount of water that exited from that watershed via the outflow stream. They then compare…

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