When an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease hits a small town, the source of legionella bacteria must be found and the town’s water decontaminated in the Water Cycle: Stoichiometry STEM Case. In that case, high-school students take on the role of an environmental engineer tasked with finding the source of the bacteria and using stoichiometry to decontaminate the water supply and remediate the disease outbreak.
In the new Water Contamination STEM Case the situation is the same, but here, elementary and middle-school students are tasked with using engineering design principles to achieve those same results.
In STEM Cases, students step into the shoes of a real-world STEM professional. STEM Cases are designed to help students learn the core concepts and practice critical thinking skills (data analysis, data interpretation, hypothesis and reasoning, predictions and communicating findings). Students are assessed on each of these and their progress can be monitored in real time by teachers. The following concepts are addressed in the Water Contamination STEM Case:
- Water contamination and water treatment
- Engineering design
- Physical properties of matter
As in all our STEM Cases, 15-25 assessments per case report student achievement in real time, giving teachers the ability to quickly address problems and differentiate instruction.
Water Contamination joins our growing library of STEM Cases, which currently include Animal Group Behavior, Heredity and Traits, Ocean Carbon Equilibrium, Fruit Production and the Environment, Chemical and Physical Changes, and more.
