Projects
Cleaning our Water
Dirty water disappears….where does it go? An investigation begins by looking inside the tank for clues… 
Through exploration throughout the classroom, the children discover that pipes carry the water away…but where to? Non-fiction books help us to ‘look underground’ and think about this…. 
After reading, exploring the internet, and much discussion, children were invitied to draw their understandings of where water goes….this helps them to articulate and clarify their thoughts. 
Although the drawings varied, all children demonstrated an understanding that water must be cleaned before going into the ocean. Our local community has struggled with this process, and some children had prior knowledge of water treatment plants due to conversations at home. 
An invitation to ‘de-pollute’ some water….the children added ‘garbage’ (small items from around the classroom) and then plucked it out of a water tank. 
How else can we get water clean again? Home-made filtering systems are developed through trial and error and ‘messing about’ with coffee filters, gravel etc. Gradually, after much simple filtering, the children could see the difference in the cleanliness of the water. 
After about 3 weeks of experimentation and investigation, we review documentation of our work….note that the teachers’ curriculum path is above the children’s work, and connected by arrows, showing the collaboration between children and teachers.
Sue Stacey
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