New
New
Year 5

Providing safe drinking water (non-statutory Climate Change & Sustainability)

I can investigate natural ways to filter dirty water.

New
New
Year 5

Providing safe drinking water (non-statutory Climate Change & Sustainability)

I can investigate natural ways to filter dirty water.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Around 80% of the world's population have access to safe drinking water at home, leaving 1.6 billion without.
  2. Unsafe water is one of the world’s largest health and environmental problems, particularly for the poorest in the world.
  3. Scientists and engineers take inspiration from nature to create filtering systems to clean water for drinking.

Keywords

  • Access - To have access is the ability to enter or use something.

  • Microorganism - A microorganism is a very tiny living thing.

  • Filter - To filter is to separate the solid particles in a liquid using filter paper or a fine mesh.

  • Natural - A natural object or material has not been made by humans.

Common misconception

Children may think that everyone has access to safe drinking water, and that water just 'appears' clean from a tap.

This lesson explains how approximately 1.6 billion people in the world today do not have access to water that is safe to drink. Also, that water is usually filtered and treated to make it safe to drink.

Before you start adding natural materials to the bottle that act as filters, rinse all of them thoroughly. Doing this should mean the first portion of water passing through should have less debris than if you used unwashed materials.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Plastic bottles, scissors, masking tape, cotton wool, sand, gravel, soil, 'dirty water' sample.

Content guidance

  • Risk assessment required - equipment

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of these describes natural materials?
An image in a quiz
Natural materials have been made by humans.
Correct answer: Natural materials have not been made by humans.
Natural materials have come from lots of different nations, or countries.
Q2.
Which of these is not a natural material?
An image in a quiz
wood
sand
Correct answer: plastic
gravel
soil
Q3.
What do we call a solid that dissolves in a liquid?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: soluble
dissolvable
insoluble
Q4.
What do we call a solid that does not dissolve in a liquid?
An image in a quiz
soluble
unsoluble
Correct answer: insoluble
desoluble
Q5.
What is the name of this piece of equipment?
An image in a quiz
funnel
Correct answer: sieve
filter paper
Q6.
Filter paper can be used to separate solids from liquids.
An image in a quiz
soluble
Correct answer: insoluble
dissolved

6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following is one of the world’s largest health and environmental problems?
An image in a quiz
unsafe swimming areas
Correct answer: unsafe drinking water
unsafe electrical devices
unsafe noise levels
Q2.
Which group of people are most likely to suffer from unsafe drinking water?
Correct answer: the poorest
the tallest
the richest
the loudest
the thirstiest
Q3.
What percentage of the world’s population have access to safe drinking water at home?
An image in a quiz
around 40%
Correct answer: around 80%
around 20%
around 90%
Q4.
Approximately how many people in the world do not have access to safe drinking water at home?
160
16 000
16 million
Correct answer: 1.6 billion
Q5.
Why must microorganisms be removed from water to make it safe to drink?
An image in a quiz
Microorganisms will drink the water.
Correct answer: Microorganisms can make people ill.
Microorganisms can become ill in water so they need protecting.
Q6.
Which of these is a step in the processes used to make water safe for drinking?
freezing
Correct answer: filtering
dissolving
melting

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