Science is essential in understanding everyday processes. It is an ever-growing field that helps us make sense of the world around us. As science educators, our aim is to create scientific thinkers that can make informed and rational decisions about the world. One important aspect of science is understanding how we arrive at a solution.

A solution is a homogeneous mixture of two or more substances that can occur in any state of matter, solid, liquid or gas. It is essential that students understand what a solution is. One of the ways to teach students about solution is by creating hands-on activities that simulate real-life experiences. Simple experiments create a foundation of understanding, and as they understand the concept of a solution, it can become more complex.

To start teaching students about solutions, a simple activity that can be done is to mix sugar or salt in water. Students will begin to observe the sugar or salt disappear into the water. This activity can be modified to introduce the concept of solubility. A solute is a substance that dissolves in a solvent, and in this case, water is the solvent. To show the concept of solubility, students can dissolve sugar or salt in varying amounts of water and observe that the solute is more soluble in a large amount of solvent than a small amount of solvent. They can also observe that some substances are not soluble in water, such as oil.

As students’ understanding grows, more complex solutions can be introduced. For example, a Titanic activity can be created to introduce a concept of density. Students can create their titanic boat models out of foil and try to float them in a tub of water with a weight inside. The goal is to create a buoyant boat that is stable and able to move across the water. This activity can be modified to show the concept of density by increasing or decreasing the weight inside the foil boat.

Another way to teach students about solutions is to set up various density columns using liquids of varying densities. Students can observe the liquids layering in the column, with the denser liquids settling to the bottom while the less dense liquids float above. This activity can be modified to show the concept of miscibility, where two liquids are immiscible and will not mix.