Mission of the Month: Drinking Water

What is Water?

Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.

From "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"
by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

More than two-thirds of the surface of our planet is covered with water, and yet we are facing water shortages! These statements seem contradictory at first, but let's look more closely at water.

What is it? When people talk about water they can mean different things.

• Water is a chemical compound made of 2 hygrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom, H2O.
• Water is also what comes out of your faucet. That water is more than H2O -- it also contains minerals, oxygen, and other things such as chlorine, which purifies the water.
• Water is also found in bottles in shops. But the contents of these bottles varies a lot!

August's Mission of the Month contains four science activities:

Activity 1: What's really in those bottles? Learn how to decipher labels
Activity 2: Make a simple solar still that removes the salt from water. This could come in handy at sea!
Activity 3: Purify some really gunky water (yuk!) using commonly found materials.
Activity 4: Test your water IQ.

See previous missions