top of page
Educating for Sustainability
CURRICULUM LIBRARY
Part of a series of lessons in a unit called Wastewater Context for Matter and its interactions. Designed for middle school physical science, students discover how density plays a major role in the treatment of wastewater.
Lesson Specs
Suitable for Grades
8th Grade
7th Grade
6th Grade
Satisfies Academic Standards:
OSPI ESE 2: The Natural & Built Environment
MS-PS1-2 - Properties of Substances
Sustainable System Focus:
Buildings and Urban Planning
Water
Academic Subjects
Science
Submitted by:
Jeffrey Burgard
Last Updated:
June 12, 2020 at 7:14:29 PM
Content Connection
After students complete activities related to density, this activity explores the importance of density in the treatment process. In wastewater treatment, density is used during primary treatment. The wastewater is held in settling tanks which allows the substances in the wastewater to separate according to density.
Scientific Principle(s)
- Density is a characteristic property and sinking and floating are observable evidence of different densities
Application
- Primary treatment involves letting the wastewater settle in tanks so that the substances will separate by density
Community Relevance
Lesson Plan
Teacher Material
Student Materials
- Notebooks
- Initial Design Page
Time needed: 1 class period
- After students finish the density lessons, download and show the Primary treatment PowerPoint slides (Directions and what to say are in the notes section of each slide)
- The slide indicating the core scientific principle from the lessons and the application to wastewater are within the slide set. Have them copy this down in their notebooks.
- At the end of the slide show, students revise their original wastewater treatment design, and share their changes with the class.
bottom of page