Week 11

 In class this week, we start Chemistry. In lab, we did six different experiments. There was cold soda, plunger push, melting ice, coke float, baking soda & vinegar, and M&Ms in water. With these we were asked to make predictions, record our observations, explain what happened, and then if we had any questions. 

Cold Soda: 

For this we had to take a water out of the cooler and make observations while it was on the table. This experiment we didn't notice anything different, but could guess what it was supposed to do.  We guessed that it was supposed to show the condensation on the bottle and on the table. For explaining what happened we said that the water in the bottle is cold, but the bottle is getting warmer because it is no longer in the cooler. Our question was where does the water come from?  

Plunger Push: 

For this experiment we pushed a plunger down onto the table to make it stick. We then had to try pulling the plunger up. Then try again by pulling on the side of the rubber base. We observed that on the tabel the rubber base is suctioned to it, and we could not pull it off the table just by the stick. Pulling the rubber base we were able to easily able to get it unstuck. We explained this by saying that by pulling air was let into the base which cause it to get unstuck.   

Melting Ice:

For this experiment, we had to feel a metal pot and a wooden cutting board. Then we were to predict on what one the ice would melt the fastest. We predicted that the ice would melt faster on the wood because it was warmer. We observed that the ice melted very quickly on the metal pot, and very slowly on the wood. We explained that happened by saying that energy is transferred quicker in metal than wood. Our questions was why do we use water bottles that are metal if they cause ice to melt faster?   

 Coke Float:

For this experiment, we had two small cans and two big cans of Coke. We were to place them in water to see if they were to float. We predicted that the smaller cans would sink and the larger cans would float. We observed that the smaller cans and the large diet Coke float, and the big regular Coke sank. We had no idea on how to explain how this happened.   

Baking soda & vinegar: 

For this experiment we were to mix vinegar and baking soda together and use our four of our senses to observe what happened. We observed that a chemical reaction occurred. We new this because it started to fizz right away, the bag expanded from the gas that the reaction caused, the mixture got colder, and it made a sizzling noise. Our question was what was the chemical reaction?   

M&Ms in water: 

For the final experiment, we had to put M&Ms in water that was on a plate. We then observed what happened. We saw that the color was dissolving in the water, and the bottom of the M&Ms were turning white. We said that the water was breaking down the sugar. Our question was what would happen if we let them sit in the water longer/overnight?   

These experiments were great to make questions about and to think how would you explain this to elementary student's who are curious. I would use experiments like these in my future teaching to help teach about interactions. I remember doing the M&M one in school and I thought it was so much fun.