M7: Blog Post 6

    Simulation: “Water Filtration Challenge” by Virginia Air & Space Science Center (NASA)

https://virtualscienceteachers.org/water-filtration-challenge/

    Open sourced games and simulations are great tools for educators to implement into their curriculum. Organizations and platforms have made it effortless for teachers to open and launch simulations for their students to immerse themselves in. Simulations offer valuable learning opportunities for content and provide exposure to different kinds of literacies. The interactive simulation that I chose to research and implement is the “Water Filtration Challenge” created by the Virginia Air & Space Science Center (NASA). 

    The “Water Filtration Challenge” simulation is designed to allow students to interact with real world pictures and virtually construct their own combination of materials to “purify” an imaginary sample of water. This learning experience can be accessed by using a chromebook and can be done wherever there is internet access. Students are following along with the interactive simulation and are clicking on the areas of the screen that provide the information needed to continue in the sequence of questions and experiments. What is great about this simulation is that all students can work at their own pace and explore each of the features that the simulation has to offer. The pictures are vibrant and inviting for students to engage with and learn from. Another wonderful feature that this simulation offers is its auditory tool. Students can click on sentences or words and the simulation will teach students how to pronounce each of the words and phrases. I would implement this simulation into the Water Cycle Unit in my Earth Science classes. I have many students that already benefit from virtual experiences and I am always looking for new simulations to add to the curriculum. This simulation would be administered after they have learned and practiced with vocabulary regarding filtration and the water cycle. I believe students would struggle with the interpretation aspect if they did not have the vocabulary background. The major learning objective for this assignment is for students to understand filtration and be able to analyze the different variables that affect filtration. This simulation supports these learning objectives by providing students with a virtual lab where students can interact with different materials that affect the rate of filtration. This lab also offers background information in the beginning of the simulation that scaffolds student understanding of the definition of filtration. This simulation can be valuable to students, but it depends on how teachers implement it.

    The “Water Filtration Challenge" will be introduced to the class as a virtual lab experiment. Students will have prior knowledge on filtration and particle sizes prior to the lab from previous lessons. The open-source website makes set-up very easy for all educators. Teachers need a steady connection to the internet for students to operate the activity. In terms of scaffolding and differentiation, I would begin the simulation by broadcasting my screen on the larger board to help  students familiarize themselves with where to click on their screens and what to press if they have a question. There is a piece of this lab where students have to construct a mixture of materials to purify a “virtual” sample of water. This provides students with a challenge to complete. In the article, Looking where the light is bad: Video games and the future of assessment, the authors state, “There is a lot of time on task, but players are motivated to spend that time because games provide a sequence of challenges that gradually increase in difficulty, so players are constantly working at the cutting (and most exciting) edge of their abilities.” (Gee & Shaffer, 2010). Scaffolding and redirection would be an important part of the lesson for me as a teacher. I would need to be circulating the room to make sure students are on task and actively working towards their learning goals. After students complete the simulation, I will look at their “experiment” to see if they were able to purify the water. This is what will help me gauge if students completed the learning goal. Also, if students are able to navigate the simulation successfully, then I will be able to tell if they possess the literacies needed to operate other simulations in the future. This simulation has numerous benefits and I will look to incorporate it into my curriculum. 

    Games and simulations are great tools for educators to implement into their curriculum for many reasons. Simulations offer students virtual learning opportunities that broaden their understanding of a topic. The “Water Filtration Challenge” is one of the many simulations that I look forward to implementing into my teachings. The “Water Filtration Challenge” created by the Virginia Air & Space Science Center (NASA) is easy to operate and allows teachers to provide their students with a real-world learning experience. 

References

Gee, J., & Shaffer, D. (2010). (PDF) looking where the light is bad: Video games and the future of assessment. Looking where the light is bad: Video games and the future of assessment. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303856565_Looking_where_the_light_is_bad_Video_games_and_the_future_of_assessment NASA. (2025). Water Filtration Challenge. Virtual Science Teachers. https://virtualscienceteachers.org/water-filtration-challenge/