Sea Chemistry

These activities, from the Centre for Science Education's Science Assessment Tasks for More Able Students, were developed as part of '2005 - Year of the Sea'. The student activities consist of three assessment tasks. These are backed up by a set of exemplar materials for teachers to support their judgements.

In task 1 [b]'Sea chemistry: what's in it?'[/b] students are given the chance to look at solubility with a practical-based task. The task needs some preparation from teachers and technicians. The solubility experiment is set in context of sea-water and how to obtain salt from it. Students compare their results with actual results for sea-water.

In the first part of task 2, [b]'Experiments with salty water'[/b], teachers are able to engage students in firstly explaining a hypothesis on distillation and then deciding how they could test the validity of this hypothesis.

The second part of task 2, [b]'Freshwater from icebergs'[/b], enables teachers to let their students demonstrate a depth and breadth of scientific knowledge and to apply their own knowledge and understanding to an unusual context.

The third task, [b]'What makes the fossils we find?'[/b], gives teachers the opportunity to let students demonstrate their level of understanding of earth sciences and develop notions of key underlying processes.

The tasks can be used by whole classes and are designed to be accessible to more able 11-14 year old students. They may also be used with students aged 14-16.