Fourth graders started class today with a great discussion about how we can determine if the environment has been polluted. Most students said that they could SEE the pollution--like exhaust coming from a tailpipe, oil floating on a river, or trash scattered across the street.
But not all pollution is obvious. Sometimes, it remains hidden for us to uncover. A simple test scientists use to determine the acidity or alkalinity of a material is a pH test. In fourth grade, we are learning about how pH can show us if a change has occurred. For example, water that used to measure a pH of 7 may change into a pH of 12. This means something must have changed the pH of the water. Over the next couple weeks, we'll be looking at how one particular community must solve a mystery as to who polluted the community! We'll be testing water and soil samples...and that means we will be practicing safe science, too. Get those goggles on!
But not all pollution is obvious. Sometimes, it remains hidden for us to uncover. A simple test scientists use to determine the acidity or alkalinity of a material is a pH test. In fourth grade, we are learning about how pH can show us if a change has occurred. For example, water that used to measure a pH of 7 may change into a pH of 12. This means something must have changed the pH of the water. Over the next couple weeks, we'll be looking at how one particular community must solve a mystery as to who polluted the community! We'll be testing water and soil samples...and that means we will be practicing safe science, too. Get those goggles on!