Thanks to our sponsor Arch Chemicals, kits containing supplies to conduct all four lessons with 6 classes of 32 students each can be purchased for only $50 per kit

Kit Contents and Supply Information

Supplies to conduct all four lessons can be purchased at local grocery/pet supply stores. However, kits containing supplies needed to conduct the 4 lessons with 6 classes of 32 students each can be purchased - Cost- $50

E-mail Gail Quinlan for information regarding the purchase or contents of the kits.

Contents of Kit

Lesson 1

  • 30-mL bottle of “Typhoid Contaminant” (1 M sodium hydroxide)- refill: science supply company or Drano
  • 30-mL bottle of “Typhoid Detector” (phenolphthalein, a base indicator)-refill: science supply company
  • 32 small plastic 5-oz. cups ( reusable)
  • 32 x 6 cotton swabs

Lesson 2

  • Pulverized dirt
  • Food coloring (red or blue)
  • 1 large jar or beaker (at least 1 L in size) for mixing dirty water
  • 1 long-handle plastic stir spoon (or paint stir stick)
  • 9 “Slushie” lids (or 9 plastic 9-oz. cups with hole cut in bottom)
  • 9 clear plastic 9-oz. cups to hold student groups’ dirty water (reusable)
  • 9 clear plastic 9-oz. cups to collect filtered water (holds inverted slushie lid) (reusable)
  • Cheese Cloth for 9 filtering set-ups
  • 49 rubber bands
  • 49/2 (about 25 ) Coffee filters
  • Supply of aquarium pebbles
  • Supply of fine aquarium sand
  • Supply of activated granular charcoal
  • 1 plastic colander sheet for separating filter materials to reuse in future labs

Lesson 3 & 4

  • 1 large bucket (holds 5 gallons)
  • Pulverized dirt
  • 8 clear plastic 9-oz. cups to contain the dirty water for Alum activity ( can use cups from lesson 2) ( reusable)
  • 8 clear plastic 9-oz. cups to hold clean filtered water for Alum activity ( can use cups from lesson 2) ( reusable)
  • 8 plastic teaspoons for stirring
  • 6 tsp. lime powder (calcium hydroxide)
  • 6 tsp. alum (aluminum sulfate)
  • 16 plastic 2-oz.cups (8 for lime, 8 for alum) (reusable)
  • 2 mini spoons, to measure 1/8 tsp. for alum and lime (reusable)
  • 32 x 6 Coffee Filters for filtering alum coagulate
  • 1 long-handle plastic stir spoon (or paint stir stick) (can use spoon from lesson 2)
  • 6 sachets of PUR Purifier of Water
  • 1 large jar or beaker for collecting the PUR filtrate (at least 1 L in size) ( can use beaker from lesson 2)
  • 32 x 6 small 1-oz. paper sampling cups for drinking clean water from PUR activity

Materials Not Included in Kit

Lesson 1

  • Newsprint or poster board for team presentations
  • Markers for team presentations
  • Store-bought distilled water

Lesson 2

  • Empty 16-oz. water bottles for filtering apparatus (1 for teacher demo and 1 for each student team)
  • Filtering materials from which students will choose when designing and building a filter (cheese cloth, cotton balls, scouring pads, cloth strips, or other materials of teacher’s choice)
  • White paper to set as a background for viewing filtered water
  • Scissors
  • Metric ruler

Lesson 3

  • Calculators (2 for each student team)

Lesson 4

  • Empty 2 – Liter bottle for dirty water (Part 1)
  • White paper to set as a background for viewing filtered water (Part 1)
  • Clean cloth/T-shirt for filtering (Part 2)
  • Scissors to cut open PUR sachet

All Lessons

  • Paper towels
  • Goggles
  • 1 set of measuring spoons
  • 1 set of measuring cups
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