Unplugged STEM Stations Pack 2: Water Filtration (Grades 4–8)

Bring hands-on environmental engineering, real-world math, technical cross-section drawing, water treatment plant logic, and critical STEM reading comprehension into your classroom with STEM Station Pack 2: Water Filtration & Environmental Engineering! Designed for grades 4 through 8, this 9-page printable resource is completely unplugged (requiring zero student devices) and engineered to run seamlessly as a 60- to 75-minute rotation lab, group workshop, or whole-class STEM activity using low-cost household supplies.

What Is Included in This 9-Page Pack?

• Page 1: Teacher Setup & Master Guide

  Features a comprehensive supply checklist, a visual classroom table arrangement diagram, pre-class prep steps, and timing recommendations for managing 5 rotation stations.

• Page 2: Student Answer Sheet (1-Page Master Handout)

  A single, organized recording sheet for students to clip to a clipboard and carry through every station, keeping each team member accountable.

• Page 3: Station 1 Sign — The Filter Build Lab

  Hands-on engineering lab where students build multi-stage water filtration columns using plastic cups, coffee filters, sand, and gravel, testing a 100mL sample for clarity and volume retention.

• Page 4: Station 2 Sign — Budgeting & Flow Rate

  Applied mathematics station where students calculate construction costs from a material price list and determine their filter's flow rate and Performance Score.

• Page 5: Station 3 Sign — Technical Cross-Section

  Technical drawing station where students produce a precise, labeled cross-section schematic of their filter layers with metric scale measurements.

• Page 6: Station 4 Sign — Water Treatment Algorithm

  Unplugged computer science station where students analyze conditional logic flowcharts (If/Then statements) governing municipal water sensor responses and chemical treatment additions.

• Page 7: Station 5 Sign — Real-World Case Study

  Informational reading station exploring The Flint Water Crisis, focusing on water chemistry, orthophosphate treatment failure, and heavy metal pipe corrosion.

• Page 8: Detailed Teacher Answer Key

  Contains worked calculations for budget and flow rates, structural analysis points, treatment logic answers, and reading response guidance in clean plain text.

• Page 9: 10-Point Master Grading Rubric

  A single-page rubric assessing student performance across all 5 stations on a 0-to-2 point scale for efficient, objective grading.

Standards Alignment & Materials:

• NGSS: MS-ETS1-1, MS-ETS1-2 (Engineering Design), MS-ESS3-3 (Human Impact on Systems)

• CCSS Math Practices: MP1 & MP4 (Problem Solving & Flow Rate Modeling)

• Materials Needed: Clear plastic cups, coffee filters, cotton, sand, gravel, dirty water mix, stopwatches, and measuring cups. No complex digital tools needed!