With our big AHA! moment coming in regards to the evidence showing us that water must be made of particles (and even smaller ones than the dirty stuff in the water), we reflected upon the models some students developed:
We then went back to the drawing board to realize that all the models we've developed before could be improved with the evidence we've figured out regarding particles. One of our investigation ideas was also to use a microscope to help us nail down what, if anything was still in our water, and by reaching out to the scientific teaching community on Twitter, Mrs. Brinza found a teacher with a microscope willing to help!
This got us thinking about how we could represent water, and anything that might be added to water in a new, improved way. So we worked through a discussion determining:
From here, students were asked to try and model their dirty water again! We're really trying to figure out what's in our dirty water so we can better determine just how they clean it at the wastewater treatment facility.
Knowing that many of the particles can't be seen, we're starting to think of what's actually happening to these particles in the water, especially since they can be seen at first and then seem to disappear over time. We've got lots of ideas about what's happening to these substances made of particles, which include:
1. They're melting.
2. They're dissolving.
3. They're disintegrating.
4. They're disappearing.
5. They're turning into something new!
Check out all the ways these students have modeled this:
1. They're melting.
2. They're dissolving.
3. They're disintegrating.
4. They're disappearing.
5. They're turning into something new!
Check out all the ways these students have modeled this:
And by watching a microscope video, doing a taste test, and using a scale, we're figured out the following about what happens when a substance, like salt, enters the water and disappears.
We've got some consensus-making to do!!! So exciting!