Unquowa School is unique in that there is a brook that is adjacent to the property which makes it an incredibly convenient place to explore and study. The 6th graders are participating in the third year of a multi year study to monitor the health of the brook.  

In order to prepare for the year long water quality study, the students are learning about pH and how to measure it.  It is just one of the many tests that the students use to assess the overall health of the brook.  

(A healthy pH range for streams, rivers, and freshwater ecosystems can fluctuate between 6.5 and 8.5 to support most aquatic life. Water with a pH outside of this range, particularly below 6.5 or above 9, can signal pollution and negatively impact the survival, growth, and reproduction of aquatic organisms)

All of that said! A funny/interesting thing happened in class while we were learning to test a variety of liquids and measure their pH. Long story short, the pH of bleach was not matching the chart.  Hmmmm we all thought scratching our heads (as if that might help us understand what was happening). How can we figure out what went wrong?

The class discussed and used the “hypothesize, analyze and observe” part of the scientific method to try and figure out what happened. Starting with questions.

Why did our testing not match the pH chart? Did we make a mistake and incorrectly measure? How could we figure this out? Was our sample compromised? 

We started by looking at the ingredients on the bleach bottle.  

 7.5 %   Hypochlorite

92.5%  Other Ingredients (!)

WHAT????? The bleach isn’t all bleach! Other ingredients? That could be anything.

We surmised that the other ingredients might be something like water that would dilute the bleach and make it less harmful for use. Bleach is toxic and even a little bit on your skin can feel like a minor burn.  

Epilogue for this experiment! Both 6th grade classes asked incredible questions and were THINKING. That is what it is all about………not the hokey pokey