Clean Water through Chemical Engineering: Introducing K-12 Students to ChE Using Filtration

Ashlee N Ford Versypt; Daria Khvostichenko

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Conference: 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access
Location: Virtual On line
Publication Date: June 22, 2020
Start Date: June 22, 2020
End Date: June 26, 2021
Conference Session: Chemical Engineering in K-12 and the First Year
Tagged Division: Chemical Engineering
Page Count: 13
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--34288
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/34288
Download Count: 870

Paper Authors

biography

Ashlee N Ford Versypt Oklahoma State University orcid.org/0000-0001-9059-5703

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Dr. Ashlee N. Ford Versypt is an assistant professor in the School of Chemical Engineering at Oklahoma
State University. She earned her Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in ChE at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign and her B.S. at the University of Oklahoma. She did postdoctoral research at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research focuses on developing computational models for
multiscale tissue physiology and pharmacology. Her teaching interests focus on chemical reaction kinetics
and computational science and engineering. She received an NSF CAREER Award in 2019.

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biography

Daria Khvostichenko University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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Dr. Khvostichenko developed a fascination for science and engineering in middle school and it has only grown since. Dr. Khvostichenko has two PhD degrees, in Chemistry and in Chemical Engineering. Her research interests spanned colloid and interface science, computational chemistry, phase behavior of complex fluids, and microfluidics. During her years in academia she mentored multiple undergraduate and graduate students and participated in community outreach programs. Dr. Khvostichenko presently leads a data analytics team for drilling fluids at Schlumberger.

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Abstract

The authors have developed a lesson plan on water filtration to introduce K-12 students to chemical engineering through hands-on activities. The primary motivation for developing the lesson was to hook K-12 students into the societal impact of chemical engineering in addressing the grand challenge of providing access to clean water. Our secondary motivation was to develop outreach materials related to our research on transport in pores and microchannels. The plan was developed in consultation with middle school teachers and tested in middle school classrooms and an after school program in a Boys & Girls Club. The activities have been used in several outreach activities since 2011 including multiple Girl Scout events for 6th-12th graders, a professional development workshop for K-12 science teachers, and a summer camp for 4th-8th graders and their grandparents. The lesson begins with a discussion of challenges of purifying polluted water and drinking water supplies in developing nations. Then a series of activities demonstrate how chemical engineering principles and technologies are effective in cleaning water and how they can be used to enhance access to purified drinking water. This lesson is designed to be completed in one 1-hour period with two experiments and one physical activity. In the first experiment, cornmeal is separated from water by passing water contaminated with cornmeal and food coloring through a simple filter made of a cotton ball (a paper coffee filter may also be used). This is an example of size-based mechanical filtration. In the second experiment, students learn that food coloring can also be removed from water in a process called “chemical filtration” (adsorption). Students test two types of materials: glass beads and activated carbon. Glass beads do not interact with food coloring and do not remove the coloring from water. Activated carbon interacts with food coloring and removes it from water making the water clear again. Activated carbon is a very common material for removing organic contaminants and is used in many devices, such as household water filters and pool and fish tank filters. Water pitchers with built-in filtration systems are also discussed as an optional component of this activity. The physical activity involves students hopping on one foot through pathways marked on the floor as they pretend to be contaminant molecules moving through pores in a filter. Wide and narrow pathways simulate mechanical filtration. Pathways marked with double-sided tape simulate chemical filtration. The goal of this paper is to disseminate the lesson plan and all the associated documentation to other educators.

Citation
Format

Ford Versypt, A. N., & Khvostichenko, D. (2020, June), Clean Water through Chemical Engineering: Introducing K-12 Students to ChE Using Filtration Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--34288

TY - CPAPER
AB - The authors have developed a lesson plan on water filtration to introduce K-12 students to chemical engineering through hands-on activities. The primary motivation for developing the lesson was to hook K-12 students into the societal impact of chemical engineering in addressing the grand challenge of providing access to clean water. Our secondary motivation was to develop outreach materials related to our research on transport in pores and microchannels. The plan was developed in consultation with middle school teachers and tested in middle school classrooms and an after school program in a Boys &amp;amp; Girls Club. The activities have been used in several outreach activities since 2011 including multiple Girl Scout events for 6th-12th graders, a professional development workshop for K-12 science teachers, and a summer camp for 4th-8th graders and their grandparents. The lesson begins with a discussion of challenges of purifying polluted water and drinking water supplies in developing nations. Then a series of activities demonstrate how chemical engineering principles and technologies are effective in cleaning water and how they can be used to enhance access to purified drinking water. This lesson is designed to be completed in one 1-hour period with two experiments and one physical activity. In the first experiment, cornmeal is separated from water by passing water contaminated with cornmeal and food coloring through a simple filter made of a cotton ball (a paper coffee filter may also be used). This is an example of size-based mechanical filtration. In the second experiment, students learn that food coloring can also be removed from water in a process called “chemical filtration” (adsorption). Students test two types of materials: glass beads and activated carbon. Glass beads do not interact with food coloring and do not remove the coloring from water. Activated carbon interacts with food coloring and removes it from water making the water clear again. Activated carbon is a very common material for removing organic contaminants and is used in many devices, such as household water filters and pool and fish tank filters. Water pitchers with built-in filtration systems are also discussed as an optional component of this activity. The physical activity involves students hopping on one foot through pathways marked on the floor as they pretend to be contaminant molecules moving through pores in a filter. Wide and narrow pathways simulate mechanical filtration. Pathways marked with double-sided tape simulate chemical filtration. The goal of this paper is to disseminate the lesson plan and all the associated documentation to other educators.
AU - Ashlee N Ford Versypt
AU - Daria Khvostichenko
CY - Virtual On line
DA - 2020/06/22
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Clean Water through Chemical Engineering: Introducing K-12 Students to ChE Using Filtration
UR - https://peer.asee.org/34288
DO - 10.18260/1-2--34288
ER -