Gratefulness
Each night before bedtime, my son and I say a prayer. In every prayer we are thanking God for our many blessings such as a home, food, toys, water etc. As a parent, I try to instill in my son gratitude, appreciation, and gratefulness for his many blessings.
I do remind him that there are people in this world who don’t have homes, toys, and clean water. The first time I explained this to him, he was in disbelief. This led to discussions about people who are homeless and suffer from poverty.
The Problem
One day he was drinking water after being outside playing. He thanked the Lord for ‘good clean water.’ I told him it is great to be thankful because there are some people who don’t have clean water. We talked about the water crisis in Flint, Michigan after their water source was changed. This change contaminated the water, which led to elevated blood lead levels in the city’s children. It also caused hair loss, itchy skin, and skin rashes.
Let’s Put on the Thinking Cap
Whenever my son, Cory, hears about a problem, he thinks and asks questions about solutions. After doing research, we learned that Earth is covered with 70 percent water. Almost all of Earth’s water is salty in the oceans and we can’t drink it. Only about three percent of the water is drinkable fresh water. Most of this drinkable water is frozen in the Arctic and in Antarctica. Therefore, only about 1 percent of the world’s water is available to drink.
Possible Solution, Maybe
Cory wanted to explore how we could turn saltwater into freshwater to drink. He thought this will provide clean water to Flint, Michigan.
We talked about the three properties of water, which are liquid, solid, and gas. We learned how a liquid turns into a gas and solid. Afterwards, Cory asked we could turn gas into liquid. We started doing some research and found the Saltwater to Freshwater Experiment.
This experiment answered his questions about turning gas to water and finding a POSSIBLE SOLUTION to provide freshwater to those who don’t have it.
I will show you how we did this in our kitchen.
Let’s Get Started
Materials Needed:
- Salt
- Water
- A pot
- A glass bowl
Directions:
- Put water in a glass
- Pour salt in the glass of water
- Mix the water and salt
- Pour the water in a pot
- Put a glass bowl in the middle of the pot
- Boil the water and put the lid upside down on the pot
- Observe what happens
- You will see water dripping in the glass bowl
- Turn your stove off and wait until the pot cools
- Take the glass out of the pot and let the water cool
Watch the video below to see how condensation makes water.
- Drink the fresh water and enjoy.
Happy Learning and Problem Solving!
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What a beautiful post. I can’t wait to read it later with my daughter when she comes from school.
Thank you so much for your comment! I hope your daughter enjoys it!
I really enjoyed this post! Great way to interact and teach your son valuable lessons!
Thank you Sharon! I am happy you enjoyed the post.
What a wonderful post. Such a great learning and teaching moment and experience.
Thank you so much for your comment and compliment!
I love that he is inclined to trying to solve problems when he becomes aware of them and that you related the lesson to the current issue in Flint Michigan. I teach at a STEM school and hands on, problem solving projects that are research based and relevant are used to drive our instruction.
Thank you Kimberlie for your comment. This helps me know that we are moving the right direction!