Summary
Brings the water series to a close by highlighting engineering and community solutions to water scarcity — from micro-scale filters to large-scale desalination plants — asking students to think about which solutions fit which contexts.
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Discussion
- What is a trade-off? Why do all engineering solutions have them?
- How does a ceramic water filter work? Who might benefit most from it?
- Why is desalination not a universal solution to water scarcity?
- What is the simplest thing an individual can do to reduce water use?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: solution, trade-off, filter, desalination, cost, benefit, scale.
Try it: Make a simple filtration system using layers of gravel, sand, and cotton in a plastic bottle. Pour muddy water through. Compare before and after. Is the filtered water safe to drink? Why or why not?