LESSON PLAN

Subjects: Chemistry & English

Topic: The ways of purifying water.

Main aim:

teaching students the ways of purifying water.

Didactic aims:

a student knows the biological and natural ways of treating waste water,

a student is able to talk about the ways of purifying water and can eliminate some of
the pollutants from water sample.

Methods of teaching: oral, visual, experiment.

Didactic resources: beakers, distilled water, engine oil, sawdust, sand, comminuted chalk, fine
stone, gravel and sand filters.
Stages of the lesson:
Introduction:
Brainstorm - the factors affecting water pollution and their consequences for living organisms.
Main phase:
Methods for treating impurities: filtration, sedimentation, decanting.
Exercise 1 - removing oil spillage from the water surface.
Add a few drops of an engine oil into a beaker with a little water inside. Drown a feather in
the mixture and observe the beaker. Clean the feather with sawdust, sand and comminuted
chalk.
Funnel sawdust into a beaker, stir the contents with a rod, and then collect sawdust from the
water surface.
Add comminuted chalk into a beaker with water and engine oil and stir well, then infiltrate the
mixture with the use of filter paper.
Observations and conclusions: After pouring the oil into water one can observe how quickly it
spreads over the surface.
A feather dipped in the mixture will become sticky. The resources used for cleaning the
feather weren't useful.

To purify small amount of water substances like sand, chalk, sawdust can be used so the
impurities accumulate on their surface and are removed together with them. Crude oil spilt
from the damaged oil tankers cause environmental disasters that occur frequently nowadays
and are difficult to avert.
Exercise 2 - filtering as one of a few ways of purifying water
Preparing the filter (homework). We need a plastic bottle with cut off bottom, then put a
cotton wool inside the bottle. Funnel small stones, gravel and sand into a bottle (from the top).
Then, pour clay-foul water into a bottle.
Observations and conclusions:
After passing through the filter water is purified in a receptacle. Filtering is a very efficient
method of purifying water.
Unfortunately, toxic chemical substances (like salts of heavy metals) dissolved in water
cannot be removed by the sand-gravel filters. Removing the contaminants from water and
drinking water treatment is carried out in sewage treatment plants and water treatment plants.
The task of a waste treatment plant is to remove contaminants from wastewater in order to
minimize detrimental impact on surface water and groundwater.
Water treatment plant removes impurities from water reservoirs and make it potable.
Stages of treating the wastewater:
a) mechanical treatment:
Grilles and screens are used to catch solids like bottles, cans, branches,
Gravel and sand gather as slurry in the so called sand trap,
grease separator - oil and grease are removed by rotating mechanical arm that scrapes the
grease,
sedimentation - waste water is left in the tank for several hours during which a slurry
gravitates to the bottom.
b) biological treatment:

A specific microorganisms are added into well aerated sewage (groups of bacteria,
protozoa and fungi), resulting in that most of the organic matter reacts with oxygen to
produce compounds harmless to the environment.

c) chemical treatment:

pathogens, nitrogen and phosphorus compounds may be isolated by adding to the

waste water solutions of various chemicals, e.g. ferric chloride, aluminum sulphate,
lime milk or filtering the wastewater through a layer of activated carbon

What we can do to reduce water pollution:

Do not pour any chemicals to the toilet or sink (paints, varnishes)
Do not wash your car on the street - the remnants of oil and fuel mix with sewage and then
contaminate surface water,
Do not wash your car near lake or river - it is a direct harm to the environment as detergents
immediately pollute water,
Use only eco-friendly washing powders.

Final part
Sum up the mechanical and biological processes of wastewater treatment

Sources:
http://ekopedagog.net/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.8814
Dodatek do aury nr.6.2005