At-Home Chemistry Experiments

In class the last few weeks, the students have been working toward meeting a standard in which they need to conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances. In essence, the students need to be able to determine whether or not a chemical reaction occurs when two things are mixed. To be able to build up to this point, the students needed to understand what a mixture is (and they also learned the difference between a mixture and a solution). From there we learned about the differences between physical and chemical changes. This part was fun because it was an opportunity for the students to see some pretty cool changes. The idea of a chemical change resulting in a new substance was tricky for some of them to understand, however, because a lot of times those changes come in the form of gas being created. So we needed to look for evidence of gases being created, such as the substances getting very foamy or bubbling up. I think that helped.
That brought us up to this today and the time for the students to try to meet the standard. I was really looking forward to this part of the unit because it was going to allow the students to get really hands-on by carrying out the investigation. The tricky part was making sure they didn't get crazy and end up making mustard gas...so I gave them some options for their investigations. I gave them 4 different investigations that they could carry out and then reflect on. The investigations were based on common substances that could be found around the home and wouldn't hurt anyone:

  • Alka-Seltzer and water
  • Vinegar and baking soda
  • A raw egg and vinegar
  • Elephant toothpaste (water, yeast, hydrogen peroxide, dish soap)
The students need to choose at least one investigation (based on what materials they have available) to carry out and then reflect on. I have a feeling that this is going to be a pretty popular assignment as the school year begins to come to a close. Once they do the investigation, then they need to reflect on what happened (and what they have learned) to determine if a chemical change has occurred. I had a few students ask pretty quickly if they could do all of them--so that was a good sign!

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 14, 2020 at 3:55 PM

    Saw on face book mixing oil, water, and red fd coloring. Then add an alkeselser. Did you see that?

    ReplyDelete

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