ePals Water Project
by Pam Collinge
December 01, 2009
What is a life straw? Who created it and what is it used for? Sixth graders have found the answers to these questions and more through their research during the ePals water project.
The life straw was invented by Dr. George Marchin. He was a Kansan who grew up in Neodesha. His work on improving water quality, while a professor at K-State, led him to experimenting with carbon nanotechnology. He developed a water filter system that was used by American astronauts in space. Dr. Marchin was interested in using the same technology to help people throughout the world who did not have clean water to drink. The life straw is filled with microscopic pieces of carbon that impurities adhere to when the water is drawn through the straw. The straw will filter water for approximately one year.
"Half of the world's poor suffer from waterborne disease, and
nearly 6,000 people - mainly children - die from diseases
contracted from unsafe drinking water every day.
LifeStraw® water purifiers have been developed as a practical way of preventing disease and saving lives, as well as achieving the Millennium Development Goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe water by the year 2015."
http://www.vestergaard-frandsen.com/lifestraw.htm
Project based learning is being used by sixth graders as they work on the ePals water project. Four essential questions have been researched through recommended online sources. These questions are:
1. What is water?
2. What is the water cycle?
3. Why is water important?
4. What problems does the world face with its water supply?
Students are creating and sharing an iMovie that will explain what they have learned about the project. They are also posting information to an international blog site and interacting with other students interested in learning more about the world’s water.
Chris,Cody, and Kendall's video
