Make Your Own Water Filter
Practice using the engineering design process to design, build and test a water filter.
Age of children
- Can be adapted for elementary through high school ages
Materials
Materials to build with
- 2 liter plastic soda bottles
- Gravel
- Sand
- Sponges
- Paper coffee filters
- Paper clips
- Straws
- Cotton balls
- Rubber bands
- Tape (electrical or duct)
- Panty hose
- Clay or putty
- Cotton batting
- Cheesecloth, mesh, or some other fabric with large porous holes
- Scissors
To make the dirty water:
- A large clear bucket filled with water
- Food coloring or soy sauce (to represent chemicals)
- Raisins or dried beans (to represent animal/human waste)
- Potting soil (to represent the earth)
- Cooking oil (to represent motor oil)
- Torn pieces of paper & Styrofoam (to represent litter)
Time
- 1 hour, 30 minutes