Engaging the Student (Entry Task) 

Checking for Understanding (exit ticket)

What's in the RIver?:

~30 min

Solution or Suspension?: 

~2 class periods

Pathways solutions and suspensions follow:

~2 class periods if jigsaw style

What's coming down the river and where's it going?:

~1 class period

Activity #1: What's in the River?

• Ask students to complete the “What’s in the Clark Fork/Santa Cruz River Water and Where Could that Stuff Go?” sheet. This activity will give you an opportunity to elicit student ideas.
• You may want to administer this the day before you complete the other activities so that you’ll have an opportunity to review students’ ideas about watersheds.
• Optional: Have students share out their ideas about what a watershed is. You may choose to use a document projector so students can share their drawings and ideas about what is in the river water.

Activity #2: Solution or Suspension?

• Begin by providing a demonstration. Take three glasses, each with 1 cup of water. To the first glass, add 1 teaspoon of salt. To the second glass, add 1 teaspoon of food coloring, to the third glass, add 1 teaspoon of dirt. Ask the students to observe the three mixtures, draw a picture of each, and label characteristics of each. Make a column for each mixture on the board and ask students to share out their ideas about characteristics of each mixture. 

Activity #3: Pathways that solutions and suspensions follow:

• See elicitation questions, Page 18.

Activity #4: What's coming down the river and where's it going?

• Engage students in considering and providing explanatory accounts of the questions provided. Students can work in small groups and then share ideas with the whole class.

Activity #1: What's in the River?

• Student handout for this activity can be found in the full lesson plan, pages 11-12.

Activity #2: Solution or Suspension?

• Student handouts for this activity can be found in the full lesson plan, pages 15-17.

Activity #3: Pathways solutions and Suspensions follow

• Student handouts for this activity can be found in the full lesson plan, pages 20-26.

Activity #4: What's coming down the river and where's it going?

• The student handout for this activity can be found in the full lesson plan, page 27.

View the full lesson plan here:

• Lesson Plan 5-3: Substances in Water

The Lesson above is a 27-page document with a wealth of teacher resources and information. However, there are four specific student activities that can be found on the following pages. You can look through them and use as few or as many that suites your needs.  

NOTE: Some lessons may need to be altered to reflect local environments that students will be more familiar with.

Lesson Activities:

1. Activity #1: What’s in the Clark Fork/Santa Cruz River Water and Where Could That Stuff Go? (Pages 10-12)

• Students indicate their ideas (through drawing and labeling) about what could be in river water and where stuff in river water could go.

2. Activity #2: What’s the Difference Between a Solution and a Suspension? (Pages 13-17)

• Students compare and contrast food coloring in water, salt in water and dirt in water. They make observations about size of particles, distribution of substance in water, whether or not the mixture settles, whether or not the substance can be separated from water with a filter, and whether or not particles in the mixture scatter light. After making and recording observations, students learn the definitions of solution and suspension. 

3. Activity #3: What Paths Does Stuff in Solution and Suspension Follow? (Pages 18-20)

• Through using physical models that replicate what happens in environmental systems such as the Clark Fork River corridor and the Santa Cruz River corridor, students investigate how substances in solution and suspension separate or stay with water as they move through different systems.

4. Activity #4: So What Could Be Coming Down Our River and Where Could it End Up?

• Students apply their investigations in Activity 3 to consider where substances in solution and suspension might go to. 

THESE LESSONS WERE CREATED AND PROVIDED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA'S "Reasoning Tools for Understanding Water Systems"PROJECT, SUPPORTED IN PART BY A GRANT FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION.

What's in the River?:

• Activity #1 Student Handout 

Solution or Suspension?:

For demo plus for each group

• 3 glasses or beakers
• 3 cups of water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp food coloring
• 1 tsp dirt
• 1 Spoon
• 3 pieces of filter paper or filter cones
• Laser pointer (use with care for eye safety and can be shared among groups)
• Suspensions and Solutions Chart

For each student

• Science notebook
• One observation/test table handout

Pathways solutions and suspensions follow:

To conduct all experiments: 

• 1 – large container
• 1 – small container
• 1 small stone – (cold – place in freezer)
• Plastic wrap
• Conductivity meter (optional)
• 1 Teaspoon
• Tape
• Substance mixed with water
• Watershed model (We used this one in a paint tray liner) OR
• Enviroscape
• Substance being investigated (drop of food coloring or colored sand)
• Tablespoon
• Bucket for water disposal
• Watering can
• Labeled beakers with mixtures students are investigating (one solution and one suspension)
• 2 celery stalks with leaves
• 1 clear plastic water bottle
• 1 mesh screen squares (10 cm x 10 cm)
• 1 rubber band
• Scissors
• Conductivity meter (optional)
• Media (ex. sand, rocks, and/or soil)
• Tape & Sharpie Marker
• Substance mixed with water

For each student:

• Substances Pathways Table for each student 
• Tracing Mixtures Tools for each student

What's coming down the river and where is it going?:

• Application questions (student handout)

Exit ticket questions are at the discretion of the teacher.