The phenomenon of brine rejection: a practical proposal for prospective primary teacher training

Abstract

The fact that sea ice may be a suitable source for fresh water is nothing new; in fact, sailors were aware of this long ago. Nevertheless, the issue that ice does reject the ions of a saline solution is not a well known topic by both novice learners and prospective teachers. This paper describes a practical activity carried out in the regular chemistry training course aimed at teachers-to-be with the objectives of, on the one hand, getting to know the phenomenon of brine rejection and, on the other hand, taking advantage of the utilized experimental design to gain insight into the colligative properties of solutions. This activity might also be adequate for secondary and high school levels.