GRADE

CATEGORY

SUB-CATEGORY

STANDARD

EXAMPLE SUPPORTING STANDARD

5–8

Science as Inquiry

Abilities Necessary to Do Scientific Inquiry

In the What’s Really in the Bottle activity, students tabulate and compare information on bottled water labels and identify questions about water samples from that information.

5–8

Science as Inquiry

Understandings about Scientific Inquiry

Different kinds of questions suggest different kinds of scientific investigations. Some investigations involve observing and describing objects, organisms, or events; some involve collecting specimens; some involve experiments; some involve seeking more information; some involve discovery of new objects and phenomena; and some involve making models.

In the Water Taste Test activity, students evaluate water samples according to appearance, odor, and taste. They enter their sensory evaluation into a table that also includes cost.

5–8

Physical Science

Properties and Changes in Properties in Matter

A substance has characteristic properties, such as density, a boiling point, and solubility, all of which are independent of the amount of the sample. A mixture of substances often can be separated into the original substances using one or more of the characteristic properties.

In the What’s Really in the Bottle activity, students observe that bottled water samples have different sources, treatment methods, and amounts of dissolved minerals and gases.

In the Water Taste Test activity, students discover that different bottled water samples have different appearances, odors, tastes, and costs.

5–8

Earth and Space Science

Structure of the Earth System

Water is a solvent. As it passes through the water cycle it dissolves minerals and gases and carries them to the oceans.

In the What’s Really in the Bottle? activity, students observe that some differences in bottled water samples are due to different amounts of dissolved minerals and gases.

In the Water Taste Test activity, different bottled water samples are observed to have different appearances, odors, and tastes due to different amounts of dissolved minerals and gases.
In the Drinking Water Basics reading, students learn about the minerals and gases naturally present in bottled water and tap water.

5–8

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives

Personal Health

Natural environments may contain substances (for example, radon and lead) that are harmful to human beings. Maintaining environmental health involves establishing or monitoring quality standards related to use of soil, water, and air.

The Drinking Water Basics reading describes how the FDA regulates bottled water, while the EPA governs the quality of tap water.

5–8

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives

Risks and Benefits

Important personal and social decisions are made based on perceptions of benefits and risks.

The Drinking Water Basics reading describes how both bottled and tap water are acceptable sources of drinking water. The greatest difference between bottled water and tap water is usually cost.

5–8

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives

Science and Technology in Society

Technology influences society through its products and processes. Technology influences the quality of life and the ways people act and interact. Technological changes are often accompanied by social, political, and economic changes that can be beneficial or detrimental to individuals and to society. Social needs, attitudes, and values influence the direction of technological development.

The Drinking Water Basics reading compares the sources of tap and bottled water, as well as different water treatment methods, which lead to different appearances, odors, and tastes. The marketing of “enhanced” water, a relatively new water product, is described. The costs of bottling and selling a commodity ordinarily considered free are also discussed.

GRADE

CATEGORY

SUB-CATEGORY

STANDARD

EXAMPLE SUPPORTING STANDARD

5–8

Science as Inquiry

Abilities Necessary to Do Scientific Inquiry

Identify questions that can be answered through scientific investigations.

In the Enhanced Water Taste Test activity, students discover how evaluating enhanced water for appearance, odor, and taste helps them distinguish between water samples.

5–8

Science as Inquiry

Abilities Necessary to Do Scientific Inquiry

Use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data.

In the Osmosis with Eggs activity, students choose one of three methods to measure the egg’s diameter. They graph their data and use their findings to begin to understand the osmosis process.

5–8

Science as Inquiry

Understandings about Scientific Inquiry

Different kinds of questions suggest different kinds of scientific investigations. Some investigations involve observing and describing objects, organisms, or events; some involve collecting specimens; some involve experiments; some involve seeking more information; some involve discovery of new objects and phenomena; and some involve making models.

In the Enhanced Water Taste Test activity, a sensory evaluation of the appearance, odor, and taste of enhanced water samples helps students decide which enhanced water sample they prefer.

5–8

Science as Inquiry

Understandings about Scientific Inquiry

Mathematics is important in all aspects of scientific inquiry.

In the Osmosis With Eggs activity, students use mathematics to determine net movements of fluids in and out of eggs.

5–8

Physical Science

Properties and Changes in Properties in Matter

A substance has characteristic properties, such as density, a boiling point, and solubility, all of which are independent of the amount of the sample. A mixture of substances often can be separated into the original substances using one or more of the characteristic properties.

In the Enhanced Water Taste Test activity, students discover that different enhanced water samples have different appearances, odors, tastes, and costs.

5–8

Life Science

Structure and Function in Living Systems

Specialized cells perform specialized functions in multicellular organisms. Groups of specialized cells cooperate to form a tissue, such as a muscle. Different tissues are in turn grouped together to form larger functional units, called organs. Each type of cell, tissue, and organ has a distinct structure and set of functions that serve the organism as a whole.

In the Osmosis With Eggs activity, some of the organization and units in an egg are essential to the demonstration of osmosis. The eggs must be decalcified while leaving the egg membrane mostly intact.

The Water and Health reading explores water’s role in maintaining cells, organs, and a healthy body.

5–8

Life Science

Regulation and Behavior

Regulation of an organism's internal environment involves sensing the internal environment and changing physiological activities to keep conditions within the range required to survive.

The Water and Health reading explores the role of thirst in controlling water intake during exercise or exposure to arid conditions.

5–8

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives

Personal Health

Food provides energy and nutrients for growth and development. Nutrition requirements vary with body weight, age, sex, activity, and body functioning.

In the Water and Health reading, the amount of water needed to maintain a healthy body under various conditions is discussed.

5–8

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives

Risks and Benefits

Risk analysis considers the type of hazard and estimates the number of people that might be exposed and the number likely to suffer consequences. The results are used to determine the options for reducing or eliminating risks.

In the Water and Health reading, the benefits and risks of drinking water are explored. Students consider different amounts and sources of water that people consume.

5–8

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives

Science and Technology in Society

Technology influences society through its products and processes. Technology influences the quality of life and the ways people act and interact. Technological changes are often accompanied by social, political, and economic changes that can be beneficial or detrimental to individuals and to society. Social needs, attitudes, and values influence the direction of technological development.

In the Enhanced Water Taste Test activity, students evaluate the appearance, odor, taste, and cost of a relatively new consumer product called enhanced water. This product is designed to provide additional nutrition and appeal to consumers who would otherwise not drink water.

GRADE

CATEGORY

SUB-CATEGORY

STANDARD

EXAMPLE SUPPORTING STANDARD

5–8

Science as Inquiry

Abilities Necessary to Do Scientific Inquiry

Design and conduct a scientific investigation.

In the To Filter or Not to Filter activity, students treat water solutions of increasing amounts of povidone-iodine with similar amounts of charcoal to observe the adsorption of iodine by charcoal.

In the How Hard Is Your Bottled Water? activity, students use commercially available test strips to determine the hardness of different bottled water and tap water samples.

In the Purifying Surface Water activity, students prepare a chemical flocculant from alum and baking soda solutions. Muddy surface water is treated with the chemical flocculant and the result compared with the original muddy water sample.

5–8

Science as Inquiry

Abilities Necessary to Do Scientific Inquiry

Use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data.

In the Detecting Minerals in Water activity, students prepare a turmeric acid-base indicating paper. The amount of bicarbonate present in different samples of bottled water and tap water produces a color change as the water sample dries on the paper.

In the Absorbent Crystals activity, students treat different bottled and tap water samples with a constant number of water-absorbent polymer crystals to measure the effect that total dissolved ions or minerals and solids has on absorption.

5–8

Science as Inquiry

Understandings about Scientific Inquiry

Different kinds of questions suggest different kinds of scientific investigations. Some investigations involve observing and describing objects, organisms, or events; some involve collecting specimens; some involve experiments; some involve seeking more information; some involve discovery of new objects and phenomena; and some involve making models.

In the To Filter or Not to Filter activity, students test the ability of charcoal to adsorb povidone-iodine from water.
In the How Hard Is Your Bottled Water? activity, students use commercial water hardness test strips to determine the extent of a color reaction with the calcium and magnesium ions in hard water.

In the Detecting Minerals in Water activity, students test for the presence of bicarbonate ions (basic ions) in neutral bottled and tap water samples as the sample dries on turmeric acid-base indicating paper.

In the Purifying Surface Water activity, students react alum and baking soda solutions to produce a chemical flocculant that traps fine particles suspended in a muddy water sample.

5–8

Science as Inquiry

Understandings about Scientific Inquiry

Mathematics is important in all aspects of scientific inquiry.

In the Absorbent Crystals activity, students use an equation to calculate the volume of liquid absorbed by the crystals.

5–8

Physical Science

Properties and Changes in Properties in Matter

Substances react chemically in characteristic ways with other substances to form new substances (compounds) with different characteristic properties. In chemical reactions, the total mass is conserved. Substances often are placed in categories or groups if they react in similar ways; metals is an example of such a group.

In the To Filter or Not to Filter activity, charcoal adsorbs some impurities, such as povidone-iodine from water.

In the How Hard Is Your Bottled Water? activity, a proprietary chemical formulation on a water hardness test strip reacts with hard-water ions (calcium and magnesium ions) to produce a color change. The color produced is indicative of the amount of hard-water ions present.

In the Detecting Minerals in Water activity, bicarbonate ions present in mineral, spring, and underground water samples react with the acid-base turmeric indicator on paper to indicate the presence of bicarbonate ions after the paper dries.

In the Absorbent Crystals activity, the amount of water absorbed by water-absorbent polymer crystals decreases with greater amounts of dissolved minerals and solids in the tested water samples.

In the Purifying Surface Water activity, the reaction between alum and baking soda solutions forms the chemical flocculant, aluminum hydroxide. Suspended solids in a water sample stick to the aluminum hydroxide, improving their removal by filtration.

5–8

Life Science

Structure and Function in Living Systems

Disease is a breakdown in structures or functions of an organism. Some diseases are the result of intrinsic failures of the system. Others are the result of damage by infection by other organisms.

In the Is Your Drinking Water Safe? reading, students read that cases of cholera, crysptosporidiosis, and other diseases are caused by water contaminated with bacteria.

5–8

Earth and Space Science

Structure of the Earth System

Water, which covers the majority of the earth's surface, circulates through the crust, oceans, and atmosphere in what is known as the “water cycle.” Water evaporates from the earth's surface, rises and cools as it moves to higher elevations, condenses as rain or snow, and falls to the surface where it collects in lakes, oceans, soil, and in rocks underground.

In the Is Your Drinking Water Safe? reading, students learn that 75% of the earth’s surface is covered with water. However, very little of that water (only 3%) is fresh water. Much of the fresh water for drinking occurs underground.

5–8

Science and Technology

Abilities of Technological Design

Many different people in different cultures have made and continue to make contributions to science and technology.

The Is Your Drinking Water Safe? reading describes water purification and delivery processes from ancient Egypt, Rome, the 17th, and 18th centuries to current water purification processes. The risks and benefits of some current treatment methods are also discussed.

5–8

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives

Personal Health

Natural environments may contain substances (for example, radon and lead) that are harmful to human beings. Maintaining environmental health involves establishing or monitoring quality standards related to use of soil, water, and air.

The Is Your Drinking Water Safe? reading describes risks to public drinking water systems and laws to protect public drinking water quality.

5–8

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives

Risks and Benefits

Risk analysis considers the type of hazard and estimates the number of people that might be exposed and the number likely to suffer consequences. The results are used to determine the options for reducing or eliminating risks.

The Is Your Drinking Water Safe? reading discusses the risks and choices of chlorinating drinking water.

5–8

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives

Science and Technology in Society

Science and technology have advanced through contributions of many different people, in different cultures, at different times in history. Science and technology have contributed enormously to economic growth and productivity among societies and groups within societies.

In the Is Your Drinking Water Safe? reading, students learn about various drinking water treatment systems from antiquity to the present. The contributions of different peoples and individuals are mentioned, including those in ancient Egypt and Rome, English and French philosophers, and scientists and engineers today.

5–8

History and Nature of Science

History of Science

In historical perspective, science has been practiced by different individuals in different cultures. In looking at the history of many peoples, one finds that scientists and engineers of high achievement are considered to be among the most valued contributors to their culture.

In the Is Your Drinking Water Safe? reading, students read how many peoples and civilizations purified their drinking water. Ancient Egypt’s water purification system and the Roman aqueducts testify as technological and cultural achievements.