Evaporation, filtration and crystallisation | Teaching practical science

The physical processes of separating mixtures by filtration, evaporation and crystallisation are key to many industrial and research activities – and to a learner’s chemistry education. In this article, science teacher David Paterson suggests relevant resources to support your effective teaching of separating mixtures. He outlines the progression of students’ understanding of underlying concepts and different ways students can get familiar with equipment and experiments, from using a Bunsen burner or evaporating basin thtough freezing super-cooled sodium thiosulfate to folding filter papers and the microscale approach to making copper sulfate crystals.