Water Pollution Clean-Up: Lab Activity

This Water Pollution Clean-Up: Lab Activity is an interactive, hands-on laboratory activity that increases student awareness of the dangers of water pollution, and the effectiveness of different types of clean-up methods that are used by environmentalists today!

This 2-page document features background information of water pollution and its causes, a list of materials needed to complete the laboratory activity, detailed directions for your students, and seven short-answer, follow-up questions that highlight key takeaways from the activity!

This has proven to be an effective and challenging activity for students to determine the best possible materials to clean up a specific water pollution scenario. Students must think critically about the materials they want to use, and how to use effectively use them. Have students work in partners or groups to clean up the spill, or have them work individually to increase the competition!

Personal Use: I have used this as a follow-up laboratory activity after my unit on soil erosion. Students are aware that soil erosion can create water run-off that picks up harmful contaminants in the environment, such as oils, grease and pesticides. These contaminants can wreak havoc on an ecosystem if not cleaned properly, so I discuss ways in which scientists and environmentalists are working to prevent and clean up water pollution today before allowing students to try their hand at it with this activity!