Ok, we can make mixtures and solutions, but what if we want to separate them?

Today we will separate water from sand using three different techniques. Do you remember what they are? Filtration, decanting and sieving. You'll see today that these methods wouldn't make water ready for drinking, but these steps are used when separating water from other substances.

    

Your job today will be to record your observations during the experiments. If you are chosen to help as a science assistance, please be sure to record your observations when you return to your spot. Watch carefully and remember "what good scientists do!"

We have spent time look at particle theory, heat transfer and solutions/mixtures. We can use this learning to think about what happens when we want to separate mixtures. Today we will learn MANY key terms used to describe separation techniques. Later, we will create our own experiment to separate a solution and evaluate it's efficiency. We will start by watching a video, then dig deeper into the key terms.

 


Decanting - Izabella, Mia C.



Magnetism - Logan, Jacob

Chromatography - Kally, Ella

Distillation - Nick, Raman, Nathi, Sham, Ashish

Evaporation - Alex, Ian,

Filtration - Seairra, Hailey
This is filtration because they used a funnel to kept the mud and the water from going into the cup. The reason why that happened was because they put a piece of paper inside the funnel to collect the mud particles. The funnel kept the mud from going into the cup.

 


Sedimentation - Evan, B

Sifting/sieving - Ryan, Beckham, Kurt, Carson, Chris, Mia D.



The reason this works is because there are holes that when you shake the strainer, the holes are small enough to let one solute pass through while leaving the other one in the strainer. Therefore separating the two substances. - Ryan, Beckham and Carson

After looking at these separation techniques, why do you think it is important that we have methods for separating mixtures? How can filtering, decanting and sieving water and sand related to our mid-year project and our discussions around the world's fresh water supply?

Today we will read an article about a young girl who has creating a filtration system to help improve water quality. Next we will develop our own methods to separate water and sand.

Interactive Maps - Where in the World Did You Get That?

After spending time looking at where our belongings come from, we can now make chances to our purchasing habits  Here we will share where our "stuff" comes from, how much our items "cost", how far they have traveled, and how all of this adds up well beyond what we have actually paid.

We hope you enjoy our maps in the comment section and think more closely about your own purchases and where your items come from.

Ecosystems - Abiotic and Biotic

6 Things You Can Do to Reduce Your Ecological Footprint

This year for our Grade 7 mid-year project we each made an infographic recapping all that we had learned about how to be a positive impact on our world. Along with a paper copy of our work we have some digital copies to help be a little more sustainable. We hope you can use some of our suggestions to reduce your ecological footprint! - Abby - Grade 7 Student






Nicole R. - 6 Things You Can Do to Make Sure We Have a Future

What are topics you like to write about?

What are topics you like to write about? What have you always wanted time to write about but haven't ever had the chance? What have you wanted to write and have your classmates read? Today we will be starting our "Group Journals". These journals get to be about ANYTHING YOU WANT (within reason!) and are shared with your classmates.

 Here are the rules.

1) Try to stick to the topic of the book. If you feel like you want to start a new journal, you can!

2) While you can write about different people in the book, you want to remember that anyone, including me has the opportunity and access to read this. Just like being good digital citizens and thinking about what we post online, we need to think about our audience - each other - and anyone else that may come across our writing.

3) Always date your writing! If you are continuing a topic, please be sure to still date your newest passage.

4) Publish! If something you are writing is extra special, or you have a specific audience you want to share it with, publish it! We will have a Writing "Wall of Fame" at the back of the room as inspiration for each other! So before we begin, let's make a list of topics!