Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I have a project due in about a month. I want to do my project on filtration, but I'm having a hard time coming up with a hypothesis. I also want to know where can I get paper filters? Can I use the same filters my mom use for the coffee pot?

Hi smonie,

When it comes to filtration, water purification is always a crowd-pleaser. Here's just one example from the Science Buddies project ideas, called "From Contaminated to Clean: How Filtering Can Clean Water."

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p030.shtml

That project requires you to buy a water filter kit, but I see no reason why you couldn't easily modify it to use cheap household objects instead, including those coffee filters. Don't be afraid to get creative with it and make it your own. A quick search of the project ideas section brings up some other options as well, including one on separating a mixture of sand and salt by taking advantages of their differences in solubility.

As for your hypothesis, try to think of your experiment as a process for answering a question. For example, with water filtration, you could design your experiment around different methods of filtration and shape your hypothesis around which method you think will do a better job of cleaning the the water.

Hope that helps, and good luck with your project!