Lake Michigan Water to our Homes...

Recognizing that the water we get comes from Lake Michigan, we also unanimously agreed that we would NOT drink it straight from the lake!  We brainstormed all kinds of things that would be in the lake, including large things like trash (sadly) and fish (yikes) alongside smaller things like dissolved solids (animal poop for example).  We even mentioned that there would be liquid pollution that would be hard to see amidst all the water particles.  

We decided to model our thinking for what happens between Lake Michigan and our homes.  Check out these ideas:

Comparing models, we agreed that there were pipes involved in the process connecting the lake to our homes.  We also agreed that there needed to be some kind of filtering system to get things out of the water that didn't belong in it.  We certainly had our differences though!  Some classmates thought there would be a specific location to clean the water (like a wastewater treatment facility but possibly called something else--since water from Lake Michigan wouldn't be as dirty as water from the sewer system).  Others though there would be a filtering system by each home.  Others thought there would be chemicals added to the water.

We went back to our investigation ideas and checked off what new investigations we could do to possibly help us figure out what happens between the lake and the tap.  

There was lots of talk about testing Lake Michigan water and compare it to the water from our tap.  Here are some students' responses advocating for one investigation over another...