News from TASIS England

Seventh grade students have designed their own mixture separation experiments in Mrs. Higgins class.

Students measured a selection of components, which included, iron fillings, sand, and salt and thoroughly combined them into a mixture. Using a magnet, water, and a filter the group began to extract and separate the individual components, each group decided a sequence for separation. They began by using a magnet to separate the filings from the sand and salt, then they added water to dissolve the salt. Finally, the mixture was filtered to separate the salt solution out. Students left the sand and salt out to evaporate the moisture, at which stage, an accurate measurement of the remaining components was taken.

Interestingly, as students tried to recover each substance, they discovered that the different physical properties of the components determined how much they could expect to recover in total from the final mixture–they soon realized that total recovery was highly unlikely!