Faraday Upper Background Image Alt Text

Subject key:

  • Science
  • Design & Technology
  • Engineering
  • Maths

Student age:

  • Under 11
  • 11-14
  • 14-16
  • 16+
Water splash

Filtering the Truth

Science Design and Technology Appropriate for children aged 11 to 14 Appropriate for children aged 14 to 16

Type: Main

Water is crucial to human life, but it can also be a killer.

Water contaminated with micro-organisms or chemicals, which is then used for drinking or cooking, is a leading cause of disease and death across the world. Poor facilities for the disposal of sewage and other waste water can quickly lead to the spread of dangerous diseases.

Activity info,  teachers’ notes and curriculum links
This activity gets students to design an experiment or experiments which will test the claims of companies producing various types of domestic water filtration equipment. It can take 60 - 90 minutes to complete depending on the number of adverts chosen from the 'Product advertisements' student handout, and if the related short film is shown as an introduction to the session. You can stream and download this film for free by clicking on the link in the Related resources section below.

The activity sheet includes teacher notes, guidance, useful web links, and links (where appropriate) to the national curriculum in each of the four devolved UK nations; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Remember, it’s all free!... and registration is free too!
All activity sheets and supporting resources (including film clips!) are free to download, and all the documents are fully editable, so you can tailor them to your students' and your schools' needs.

Related resources

Engineering context

Supporting multimedia

The story

Outbreak game

Manage the water supply and waste water disposal systems for the growing sector known as 'Faratron' 

The story

World water quiz

How important is water to human life? Take the quiz and test your knowledge - but be careful because each wrong answer will result in an increase of bacteria in the water supply

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