PADI logo NanoSense Activities 
tagline
home about activities workshops papers contact
  bracket  
 

Fine Filters: Filtering Solutions for Clean Water
Version 2. Last updated: February 3, 2008.

This unit focuses on the scarcity of safe drinking water across the world, some of the science basics of water, how water can be cleaned through a series of filtration steps, and how nanofiltration can be used as a cost-effective way to solve filtration problems. Upon completing this unit, students will understand:

  1. A shortage of clean drinking water is one of the most pressing global issues
  2. As a result of water’s bent shape and polarity, water has unique properties, such as an ability to dissolve most substances. These properties are responsible for many important characteristics of nature.
  3. Pollutants can be separated from water using a variety of filtration methods. The smaller the particle that is to be separated from a solution, the smaller the required pore size of the filter and the higher the cost of the process.
  4. Innovations using nanotechnology to create a new generation of membranes for water filtration are designed to solve some critical problems in a cost-effective way that allows for widespread use.

Length: 3 lessons, up to 7 50-minute classroom periods if all lessons are used. Not all lessons are required. Use the lessons most appropriate for your students.

Materials

Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 United States License. See Publication Information [PDF] for attribution information.

Download the entire Fine Filters Unit [PDF] (43 MB) or download individual sections or files below.

Download a zip archive of the Microsoft Word and PPT source files (52 MB) if you want to adapt the materials under the Creative Commons license. PowerPoint [PPT] versions of the slides are also available separately, below.

Front Matter

Download the preliminary pages, including the cover page, copyright and publication information, and table of contents.

Overview of Unit

Download Teacher materials [PDF]

  • For Anyone Planning to Teach Nanoscience...Read This First!
  • Fine Filters Overview and Learning Goals
  • Unit at a Glance: Suggested Sequencing of Activities
  • Alignment of Unit Activities with Learning Goals
  • Alignment of Unit Activities with Curriculum Topics
  • Fine Filters Pretest/Posttest: Teacher Answer Sheet

Download Student materials [PDF]

  • Fine Filters: Pretest
  • Fine Filters: Posttest

Lesson 1: The Water Crisis
Enduring Understandings: 1

Download Teacher materials [PDF]

  • Introduction to the Water Crisis: Teacher Lesson Plan
  • The Water Crisis: PowerPoint [PPT] Slides & Teacher Notes
  • The Water Crisis Student Data Worksheet: Teacher Instructions & Answer Key
  • Fine Filters Initial Ideas: Teacher Instructions
  • The Water Crisis: Quiz Answer Key

Download Student materials [PDF]

  • The Water Crisis: Student Data Worksheet
  • Fine Filters Initial Ideas: Student Worksheet
  • The Water Crisis: Student Quiz

Lesson 2: Science of Water
Enduring Understanding: 2

Download Teacher materials [PDF]

  • Introduction to the Science of Water: Teacher Lesson Plan: Teacher Lesson Plan
  • The Science of Water: PowerPoint [PPT] Slides & Teacher Notes
  • The Science of Water Lab Activities: Teacher Instructions
  • The Science of Water: Quiz Answer Key
  • Reflecting on the Guiding Questions: Teacher Instruction

Download Student materials [PDF]

  • The Science of Water Lab Activities: Student Directions
  • The Science of Water Lab Activities: Student Worksheets
  • The Science of Water: Student Quiz
  • Reflecting on the Guiding Questions: Student Worksheet

Lesson 3: Nanofiltration
Enduring Understandings: 3, 4

Download Teacher materials [PDF]

Techer materials

  • Nanofiltration: Teacher Lesson Plan
  • Nanofiltration: Teacher Reading
  • Nanofiltration: PowerPoint [PPT] Slides & Teacher Notes
  • Which Method is Best? Answer Key
  • Comparing Nanofilters to Conventional Filters Lab Activity: Teacher Instructions
  • Cleaning Jarny's Water: Teacher Instructions & Rubric
  • Reflecting on the Guiding Questions: Teacher Instructions

Download Student materials [PDF]

Student Materials

  • The Filtration Spectrum: Student Handout
  • Types of Filtration Systems and Their Traits: Student Handout
  • Which Method is Best? Student Worksheet
  • Comparing Nanofilters to Conventional Filters Lab Activity: Student Instructions & Worksheet
  • Cleaning Jarny's Water: Student Instructions & Report
  • New Nano-Membranes: Student Reading
  • Reflecting on the Guiding Questions: Student Worksheet
 
 
bracket
grid
NanoSense Home        About        Activities        Workshops        Papers        Contact

All contents copyright © 2004-2005 SRI International
SRI International