Scribd
Upload
318 views4 pages

Investigation Grade 6

Uploaded by

Oratile
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
318 views4 pages

Investigation Grade 6

Uploaded by

Oratile
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

WATER

Why water is important?


Water has many different uses.
1. Contamination - When water contains substances or germs
that make it unsafe to drink.
2. Purification - The process to clean dirty water

The Different Methods we use to Clean our Water.


a. Sieving - Dirty water that contains solid substances like dirt and rocks can be
separated from the water with a sieve. The holes in a sieve will clean the water by
allowing the water to pass through while keeping the larger substances behind.
The smaller the sieve holes are, the cleaner the water will be after sieving, but it
will still not be safe to drink. Germs, viruses and other harmful organisms are small
enough to pass through the sieve holes.

b. Filtering - Water filtration is similar to sieving but unlike a sieve, water filters
contain multiple layers of different material which help to purify the water and
remove dirt.
c. Boiling - Another way to purify water is to boil it. We can kill the germs and
parasites in water by boiling it for a few minutes. This will kill any small organisms
in the water. Boiled water takes a long time to cool down.

d. Adding Chemicals - Once all the solid substances are taken out from the dirty
water, only the germs still need to be removed to make the water clean enough for
people to drink. Special substances are used to kill germs. These substances are
called chemicals. The most common chemical used to kill germs are called chlorine.
Adding just the right amount of chlorine to dirty water will purify it enough for
people to drink. You also get purification tablets to mix with dirty water to kill the
germs in the water.
Your boat has crashed on a deserted island, and you have no food or water with you, the
only source of water available is a small pond filled with dirty water.
Using the materials you have, make a simple water filter to help purify the dirty water in
the pond.
The materials you have are:
• A plastic bottle
• Small stones or rocks on the beach
• Sand
• Charcoal
• Cotton wool

Question 1
After you have built your filter pass dirty water through it and write down what happens?
Question 2
State whether the water is safe to drink now? If the water is not safe to drink what
additional purification method can be used to make sure the water is drinkable?
WORKSHEET
Investigation: Purifying water using a water filter For this
investigation you will need:
 Filter paper (or cotton material)
 Scissors
 Plastic bottle (500 ml)
 Spoon
 White sand
 Coarse sand (or charcoal)
 Gravel
 Container with 500ml water and some soil

You might also like