I really liked this lab, but I think the content is a bit too advanced for 8th graders. it's hard for them to get more than a conceptual understanding of the 2:1 ratio in water from this lab. In a high school class, this would be a great lesson.
Thu, 12/13/2012 - 15:56
Ya, my strugglers really had a difficult time with this one. But! They enjoyed the lab, and they all said that I should do it next year. So, they felt it was valuable and that they learned something.
Tue, 12/04/2012 - 07:58
At our follow-up session, I talked with another teacher who did this lab with her 6th graders. She said they really got the lab, but she was teaching chemical and physical changes so it really fit the content. She also spent a few days front-loading the content. I just did it straight out of the box. So that probably was a factor in my kids' understanding.
Fri, 12/07/2012 - 11:12
Who was the 6th grade teacher? I'd really like to know how & with what materials, which driving questions etc she used. My target class is 8th graders, but I would also like to do the activity with my 6th graders because it does seem like such a good fit. Do you know any of these answers or could you pass on the question to your table mate?
Thanks!
Thu, 12/13/2012 - 15:52
I think it was Nicole? She spent a lot of time reviewing the terms... and I see you already did this :( sorry about the late reply. But, she did the exact thing you did. Kudos! I'll probably use this again next year, but will definitely be revising my approach to it.
Mon, 12/10/2012 - 08:30
Did you have to spend a lot of time going over background info for them to get it? I want to do this when we get back and I'm trying to gauge how much time I need to spend on this. Thanks dude =)
Thu, 12/13/2012 - 15:55
It looks like people are getting the best results by really spending time reviewing the terms and discussing the setup. I did it as a quick bridge to rocks, since I'm really behind on content, and that didn't go over so well.
Best thing I can say is, the kids love the lab, but it takes a lot of prep time to get them to make the connections, but they WILL make the connections.
Thu, 12/13/2012 - 15:30
OK, so thanks to all the comments and ideas, I think this just went pretty smoothly!! I spent some time over the last couple of weeks reviewing key themes, ideas and vocab like density, adhesion, cohesion, solution, solvent, solute, molecule, atom, bonding etc by writing them into a wordbank we keep in our science notebooks - definitions are worked out in class rather than from a dictionary. Right before beginning the lesson, I had students add "physical change" and "chemical change" to the list. We then did a lab prep so that everything except the baking soda solution was ready to go. I took several pieces of Karen's advice and set batteries inside a separate clear cup, color coded which alligator clip was attached to which battery pole, cut notches in the sides of the baking soda solution cups for the graphite to rest in. Anyway, things went really well and some of my least clear thinkers were really giving excellent answers orally, drawing excellent observation diagrams and noticing intelligent details like the electrical circuit was interrupted when the solution level fell below the graphite on the hydrogen side. Definitely thumbs up!
Thu, 12/13/2012 - 15:36
...sorry, I intended to be clearer about total time used. I did a little preparatory talking each day for a while before actually starting. I then did 3 lab days of 41 minute classes. Day 1: vocab + lab set up, Day 2: baking soda solution + run + observation, Day 3: Review Questions. The questions were assigned as homework, but we went over, discussed, added & subtracted ideas etc on Day 3.
Mon, 01/14/2013 - 07:42
I agree with andy- my kids had a little bit of trouble understanding the ratio. It helped after we went over the structure and all that we learned from water properties. Next time I want to do them closer together so the students can remember the properties a little clearer.
Sat, 02/09/2013 - 16:01
Thanks for all the tips everyone. I'm going to be teaching this lesson next week (we're still in Chemistry) to follow up with lessons on types of bonds.
Mon, 12/03/2012 - 20:11
I did this with my 11th grade marine science class. I agree that it was a great lesson, however this course was chosen in place of chemistry for most students, so they do not have the chemistry background knowledge.