Sixth grade students at Seneca Middle School in Brian Bartalomy’s science class recently participated in a lab activity identifying parts of a mixture and accomplishing the separation of the mixture by physical means. 

To begin, students reviewed the six ways to separate a mixture: filtering, evaporation, distillation, magnetism, picking the mixture apart or using a centrifuge. Students then worked collaboratively to observe and identify the characteristics of several mixtures, including iron shavings, sugar, white rice and beans, and separated the mixtures. 

After completing the lab activity, students answered questions about the methods they used, further solidifying their newfound scientific knowledge on mixtures.