Lead Poisoning in Water

A Chemistry Webquest

Mrs. Murley’s High School AP “Mad Scientists”

 Table of Contents
Introduction

Task

Process

Day 1: Learning more about Lead

Day 2: Examining the Problem

Days 3-5: Find a Solution

Notes for Days 3-5

Letter to the Mayor - Format Guidelines

Evaluation Rubric

Conclusion

Content Area Expectations

 Introduction
Calling all mad scientists! A report was just released that

the tap water in your hometown is contaminated with unsafe

levels of lead! Now the mayor is calling on YOU to use your

chemistry knowledge and research skills to find a solution. In

this Webquest, you will do some research to get to the bottom of

this and determine a solution for your city.

You will work with your research team (3-4 students) to learn more about lead and its

effects on our health. Meanwhile, you will also need to recall your knowledge of the Periodic

Table, atoms and ions, and different types of chemical reactions in order to understand the

problem and select the best solution. Recall what you know about how the Periodic Table is

organized, remember what you’ve learned about ionic compounds, and use your knowledge of

chemical reactions to observe how lead interacts with other chemicals.

Time is of the essence, because every day without tap water costs the city thousands of

dollars and affects the lives of all of your neighbors. Therefore, you will have one week to do all

of your research and write a proposal to your Mayor explaining your solution.
 Task

Webquest Objective: To use your knowledge of chemistry and the provided resources

to research and select the best solution for your city’s contaminated water.

Assignment: Complete the guided research questions individually, then write a

proposal with your research team to persuade the mayor to use your method to solve the crisis.

At the end of the week you will turn in:

1. Your handwritten or typed responses to ALL of the questions from

Days 1-2

2. Your handwritten or typed notes for Day 3

3. One copy of the research team’s letter to the mayor

4. One copy of the document explaining how you chose to divide up the work

for the letter

Make sure you follow the evaluation rubric carefully to receive full points for this project.

Due Date: __________________

 Process

You will work in research teams of 3 or 4 to complete this activity, but each student is

required to fill out their own worksheet. Answer the questions together using the resources

provided.

Note: the websites you will use to conduct your research are very informative. However,

since you are all only beginning to become “mad scientists,” you might not recognize or

understand some of the information. That’s okay! Part of your job as researchers is to figure out

what information is useful and what information is not needed for this particular assignment.
Day 1: Learning more about Lead

Not surprisingly, the lead poisoning problem has a lot to do with chemistry!

Before we can understand what causes lead poisoning and how to solve it, we must first learn

more about the element lead and its properties.

First, we’ll visit our old friend, the Periodic Table.

Reference: http://www.ptable.com

1. Find lead on the periodic table. Write down its Atomic Symbol, it’s Atomic Number, and

it’s Atomic Mass.

2. What group does it belong to?

3. What are some of the properties of this group of elements? (Hint: click on the name of

the group to learn more)

4. What are lead’s physical properties? (Hint: Click on the box for lead to find more

information about the element)

5. Is lead a solid, liquid, or gas at room temperature?

6. How many stable isotopes does lead have? Name one and list the number of protons,

neutrons, and electrons it has.

 7. What are some sources of lead that this website lists?

Now it’s time for a closer look at some of the properties of lead.

Reference: http://www.chemistryexplained.com/elements/L-P/Lead.html

8. Is lead a metal, nonmetal, or metalloid?

9. According to this website, which group does lead belong to? Name two other elements

in this group.

10. Read about the Extraction of lead from ore. Write chemical reactions to explain the

process (Hints: The chemical formula for lead ore is lead sulfide or PbS, called “galena.”

there are two reactions. The first is “smelting,” and the second is heating with charcoal)

11. Write down the names and formulas of two different simple ionic lead compounds.
 Next, we must pause and remember what ionic compounds are and what they are

made of before we can fully understand why lead is so dangerous.

Reference: http://www.bhsu.edu/Portals/336/CHEM106/100912_L6_UCRC_Pt2.pdf

12. What types of ions does lead usually form?

13. For each type of ion formed, write the number of protons and electrons you would expect

to see in that ion.

14. Determine the charge of the lead ions in each of the compounds that you wrote in

question 11 above. (Hint: use the method this site used to find the charge of iron FeCl2)
Day 2: Examining the Problem

Now that we’ve learned a little about lead, let’s take a closer look at the problem of lead

poisoning, specifically in water.

First, we’ll look at the chemistry involved when lead contaminates water.

Reference: http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/water/lead/lead-and-water.htm

1. Write the chemical reaction that occurs between lead and water when oxygen is present.

2. Under the section, “Why is lead present in water?” it says, “Lead may bind to carbonate,

therefore lower amounts of lead dissolve in hard water. Inside the pipes, a layer of hardly

soluble alkalic lead carbonate is formed.” Write the chemical reaction that occurs between

lead and carbonate (Hint: remember that the carbonate ion is CO32- and read the section

“Solubility of lead and lead compounds”)

3. Why is lead toxic to the environment (specifically plants)?

4. Name five of the damaging effects of lead in the body that this website lists.

5. According to this website, who are more likely to suffer more severe health consequences

from lead poisoning?

 Next, we’ll look more in depth at how exactly lead works in the body.

Reference: https://publications.nigms.nih.gov/findings/mar05/lead.html

(in the event that this website is not functioning, use these alternative resources to answer the

questions: http://www.livescience.com/18247-metals-human-body-health-nigms.html

http://chemistry.about.com/od/howthingsworkfaqs/f/leadpoisoning.htm )

6. Believe it or not, some metals are actually good for your health. List three “healthy” metals

here and briefly explain why they are healthy. (Hint: read the “Good-for-Nothing Lead”

section)

7. Once lead is inside the body, it can do damage to pretty much every organ in your body, but

the one it affects most is the _______________.

8. What types of molecules are affected by lead? (Hint: read the “An Uncommon Bond”

section)

9. What did Godwin discover about the way that lead affects the molecules mentioned in

Question 8 (i.e. what type of reactions is lead involved in, with what other elements in the

body)?

10. Remember what displacement reactions are? Write the product of the single displacement

reaction:

Pb(s) + Cu(NO3)2(aq) →
 11. Take a look at the right sidebar at the image of Zinc and Lead chemical compounds. What

difference do you notice between the two molecular structures? How does lead affect

proteins, according to this sidebar?

Second, we’ll examine how these chemistry concepts affected the city of Flint.

Reference: http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/11/health/toxic-tap-water-flint-michigan/

12. What caused Flint’s tap water to become toxic?

13. Why did the Michigan State Government choose to change the city’s water source?

14. What element (or ion) was present in the water that made it appear reddish-brown?

15. How long do the effects of lead poisoning last?

16. What is your reaction after reading this article?

Days 3-5: Find a Solution

Obviously, lead poisoning is a very serious problem! Fortunately, your city tested the

water before most people were affected, and has some available funds to take care of the

problem. Now your job is to propose a solution to make your drinking water safe again.

Reference: http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/water/lead/lead-and-water.htm

You should recognize this site from Day 2. This time, you’ll find several different

solutions to lead contamination at the bottom of the page. Read about a few and take notes on

them on the next page. *Note: You will lose points if you do not research at least 3 different

sources and take notes!

Once you have learned about the various ways to remove lead from your water system,

choose the solution that you think is best for your city. You are to write a persuasive letter to the

mayor explaining why that solution is the best for your city. Follow the outline shown on the next

page.

You may choose to assign each team member to a paragraph, or you may choose to

work on the entire letter together. Whatever you choose to do, have at least one person

proofread the letter all the way through to make sure the pieces all come together and that the

conclusion ties in all of the ideas you discussed.

*Note: On a separate page attached to your letter, please indicate how you chose to

divide up the work for this project. This can be brief, but this part of the assignment is just as

important because it shows that you are able to collaborate and delegate roles.
Notes for Days 3-5
Letter to the Mayor - Format Guidelines

Dear Mayor _____________, (you can use the name of the mayor of your hometown or another name)

1. Paragraph 1: Brief introduction - identify the researchers in your team and set the tone

for what you will be discussing in the rest of your letter.

2. Paragraph 2: Information about lead and how it most likely contaminated the water

a. Use information from your research in Days 1 and 2 - but don’t include ALL of it!

Pick and choose what information you think is most important to explain to the

mayor.

3. Paragraph 3: Information about the environmental and health effects of lead poisoning

a. Use information from your research in Day 2 - but again, you do not need to

include ALL of the information you gathered. Select what you feel is the most

important information to share.

4. Paragraph 4: Information about the solution you chose

a. the chemical concepts involved (what type of reaction or property you are using

to remove the lead)

b. rationale for choosing this specific solution - why is it better than others? Is it

cheaper? Does it work more quickly? Does it use less energy?

5. Paragraph 5: Conclusion. Tie all of your paragraphs together to summarize your

thoughts. End with a convincing statement to urge the mayor to consider your proposal.

Sincerely,

(Names and signatures)

Evaluation Rubric
In order to receive full points for this assignment, please follow the rubric below:
CATEGORY 4 3 2 1
Content The letter contains The letter contains The letter contains The letter contains
Accuracy at least 5 accurate 3-4 accurate facts 1-2 accurate facts no accurate facts
facts about the about the topic. about the topic. about the topic.
topic.

Accurate The student The student The student The student

Responses to answered all or answered answered about half answered less than
almost all questions approximately 75% of the assigned half of the questions
Questions correctly. of the questions questions correctly. correctly.
correctly.

Completeness The student The student The student The student

of Research researched and researched and researched and researched and
wrote detailed notes wrote notes for 3 wrote notes for 2 wrote notes for 1 or
about 3 or more different solutions, different solutions. 2 different solutions,
different solutions to but the notes were but the notes were
the problem. somewhat lacking in lacking in quality
quality and and thoroughness.
thoroughness.

Use of Research The student The student included The student included The student
in Letter included a a substantial amount a minimal amount of included very
substantial amount of the included the included minimal research or
of the included research from the research from some did not include any
research from all of required sources in of the required of the included
the required at least two out of sources in at least research in the
sources in all three three of the body two out of three of letter.
body paragraphs. paragraphs. the body
paragraphs.

Content The letter contains The letter contains The letter contains The letter contains
Accuracy at least 5 accurate 3-4 accurate facts 1-2 accurate facts no accurate facts
facts about the about the topic. about the topic. about the topic.
topic.

Ideas Ideas were Ideas were Ideas were The letter seemed
expressed in a clear expressed in a pretty somewhat organized to be a collection of
and organized clear manner, but but were not clear. It unrelated
fashion. It was easy the organization took more than one sentences. It was
to figure out what could have been read to figure out very difficult to
the letter was about. better. what the letter was figure out what the
about. letter was about.

CATEGORY 4 3 2 1
A Well- The letter uses The letter uses The research weakly The letter does not
Supported research to support research to support supports the use research to
the content and the content, but solution, but the support the content
Solution presents the lacks letter lacks and fails to propose
solution in a logical, persuasiveness or persuasiveness and a clear solution to
persuasive way. logic. does not suggest the problem.
 that the solution is
logical.

Length The letter is 20 or The letter is 15-20 The letter is 10-15 The letter is less
more sentences. sentences. sentences. than 10 sentences.

Collaboration The group The group The group The group did not
completed the completed the completed the describe how they
description of their description of their description of their divided their roles or
decided roles, and decided roles, the decided roles, but did not work
their letter was individuals worked the letter was together at all for
evidence that they well together, but obviously not this assignment.
collaborated well on their letter had some collaborated on and
the assignment. inconsistencies. the students did not
support each other.

Overall Science The student The student The student The student did not
Expertise demonstrated and demonstrated some demonstrated limited demonstrate
used their knowledge of a few knowledge of the knowledge of the
knowledge of previously learned research but did not research or
previously learned topics and use previously previously learned
chemistry concepts knowledge from learned chemistry chemistry concepts.
and the knowledge some of the concepts.
gained in research. resources.
 Conclusion

Congratulations! You came up with a solution and made the drinking water safe again!

Hopefully, this assignment helped you see how important chemistry is to solve the world’s

toughest problems. Not only were you able to apply some of the chemistry concepts we learned

in class, but you were able to scour the references I gave you to find useful information.

While you’re developing your “mad scientist” skills, remember that it is okay not to know

everything. However, you should be able to use the research skills you are developing to find

the information you need to make an informed decision about a problem. We will continue to

develop our research and problem solving skills in future lessons.

 Content Area Expectations

C1.2k Analyze how science and society interact from a historical, political, economic, or social

perspective. C4.8D Give the number of electrons and protons present if the uoride ion has a -1 charge.

C4.9A Identify elements with similar chemical and physical properties using the periodic table.

C4.9b Identify metals, non-metals, and metalloids using the periodic table.

C4.10A List the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons for any given ion or isotope.

C4.10B Recognize that an element always contains the same number of protons.