Mississippi Science MAQ.1.6
The Standard
- MAQ.1
- Students will develop an understanding of the unique physical and chemical properties of water and how those properties shape life on Earth.
Enrichment: Use an engineering design process to reduce the effects of pollution in aquatic ecosystems (e.g., microplastics, garbage patches, oil spills, and eutrophication). Students will design a proposed solution based on current research and/or observations and develop a model to test their design. Data from experimentation will be analyzed, organized graphically, and communicated to classmates to determine the effectiveness of the proposed solution. *
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Water Properties and Quality
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students use a research source or observation to choose an aquatic pollution problem and sketch a solution. They build a model, test it, graph the results, and explain their findings to classmates.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students keep test conditions the same and measure how much pollution remains. They label their graph, use the results to judge their design, and suggest a change to test next.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may call a cleanup tool effective because it looks dirty, without measuring what remains in the water. They may change the amount of pollution and the cleanup time between tests, making the results hard to compare.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Two trays start with 20 oil-covered grid squares. Cotton leaves 8 and a spoon leaves 15. Graph the results, choose a tool, and name one drawback to test.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Place two clear trays over graph paper, add equal amounts of water and vegetable oil, then test cotton versus a spoon and count remaining oil-covered squares.
Write a claim using your grid counts: Which tool cleaned more oil, and what trade-off would matter in an actual spill?
Post cotton counts of 6, 7, 8 and spoon counts of 3, 5, 7; pairs graph averages and choose a retest.
Show a photo of a nearby storm drain; students sketch a removable trash screen and mark where runoff goes if it clogs.
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Printable MAQ.1.6 Worksheet
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- ZOO.10.7
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