Blog Post Week 11
Week 11
In lab today we started chemistry! We first refreshed by thinking about the question, "What is matter?" Our table described matter as anything that takes up space. We then started a rotation of five experiments. 
The first experiment we completed was testing to see which Coke cans would float and which would not. We had a regular Coke, a small can of regular Coke, a Diet Coke, and a small can of Diet Coke. Our group hypothesized that the large cans would sink and the small cans would float. We were very surprised to see that all of them floated, but the regular Coke. After seeing this we wanted to know why so we weighed them all on the scale provided. This is how we concluded that regular Coke was denser than Diet Coke. I thought this was a great experiment for any classroom because it uses items that are already in the classroom or that are very inexpensive, as all of these activities did.
The first experiment we completed was testing to see which Coke cans would float and which would not. We had a regular Coke, a small can of regular Coke, a Diet Coke, and a small can of Diet Coke. Our group hypothesized that the large cans would sink and the small cans would float. We were very surprised to see that all of them floated, but the regular Coke. After seeing this we wanted to know why so we weighed them all on the scale provided. This is how we concluded that regular Coke was denser than Diet Coke. I thought this was a great experiment for any classroom because it uses items that are already in the classroom or that are very inexpensive, as all of these activities did.
Next, we moved on to an experiment where we watched the dye get removed from M&Ms from being soaked by water. This was a fun, simple experiment that could introduce chemical reactions to elementary students, as they'd likely be enticed by the colorful activity.
After the M&Ms we moved on to an experiment with a plunger where we created a vacuum using just the plunger and smooth surfaces. This was an activity I would use with older elementary students as there needs to be a level of trust that they will not harm peers or other objects. Then, we moved to a station where we had to hypothesize where an ice cube would melt the fastest. Our group predicted that it would melt the fastest on the light wood, and the slowest in the pot. We were very wrong as the pot is the only place where the ice melted significantly during our time observing. We then discussed the connection of this experiment to insulators and conductors. The final activity was observing a cooled beverage "sweating" on the outside of the can when removed from its chilled environment. I really enjoyed this lab session as it gave me a great list of ideas for many different lessons and grade levels that I can realistically do with my future students. My only question is are there any activities we completed in this lab that could be used during the same lesson?
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