Water Filter Activity Instructions

If you are in an area of the country where there is no local EWB chapter, your students can still participate in the 'Water for the World' workshop by delivering the interactive activity yourself.

Students work in groups of 4-5 to make their own water filters from recycled plastic bottles and multiple layers of sand and gravel. Each group represents a different country, some developing and others developed (for example Ghana and Canada). They are each provided with different levels of information and play money, dependent upon their country's literacy rate and national wealth.

This activity takes about 30 minutes and can accommodate 10-30 students, fourteen years old and up.

Materials

The following is a list of materials you need for this activity:

• 1 2L plastic bottle per group
• 1 500mL plastic bottle per group
• 1 cup of fine sand per group
• 1 cup of coarse sand per group
• 1 cup of fine gravel per group
• 1 cup of coarse gravel per group
• 1 cup of activated charcoal per group
• 1 cotton ball per group
• 1 transparent plastic cup per group
• 1 small piece (about 10cm X 10cm) of cheese cloth per group
• 1 rubber band per group
• monopoly money
• Photocopies of country profiles and instructional handouts

Advance Preparation

1. Prepare the materials.
   • Cut the bottoms off the 2L bottles so they are ready to be made into filters
   • Cut the cheese cloths into 10cm X 10cm pieces
   • Breakdown the charcoal into granules with a hammer
   • Prepare "dirty water" by adding approximately 2 tablespoons of soil or mud to 500mL of water
2. Assemble country packages. Each group receives a handout that includes a country profile, instructions on how to make the water filter and an amount of monopoly money based on the table below:

Procedure

1. Put the filter materials in an easily accessible area at the front of the class ("the store").
2. Divide the students into working groups (4-5 students per group). Distribute a country package to each group.
3. Explain to the students that they are to make a water filter as outlined on their instruction sheet. They may purchase the materials they need from "the store" using the monopoly money they are provided.
4. After about 20 minutes, have a representative from each group come up to the front of the room and demonstrate their water sample.
5. Follow-up the activity with a discussion on how the activity relates to the real world. Follow the slide show and script provided.

We would love to hear your feedback on this activity. Please email sarahtakaki@ewb.ca to let us now what you and your class thought about the activity.

Get Outside Your World Contest

Each year, EWB asks students from across Canada to share their vision of a better world.

This year, Engineers Without Borders and Mountain Equipment Coop are proud to present the Get Outside Your World Contest in which students are asked to answer the question "what kind of world do you want to live in and what will it take to get there? in a variety of creative entries.

Learn more »