Periodic Table

 My kids are completing their summer assignments, element cards to ,earn the periodic table.  Here is my slideshow introducing the periodic table.  There is a slide which identifies the elements the kids need to memorize and another slide with a periodic table without the names of the elements, to use for testing.  My kids test until they learn at least 90% of the elements I feel are important, those we use frequently to name compounds and molecules.  Below are samples of the element cards.  Take a look!

Terrific Chemistry Resources

 Have you heard of Jon Bergman?  He has outstanding resources.  Check out these Mastery Chemistry Resources.  Open up the Level 1 Interactive Notebook Packet, perfect for families who like lapbooks. All of the pages, notes, and foldables are in the file.  Jon Bergman plans to update his page all year.  Take a look!

How long does your Co-op Science class meet?

 Our Co-op Chemistry and Physics class meet twice a week for 90 minutes.  The kids are expected to do work outside of class, too.  If kids struggle, they meet after class.  (Some stay after EVERY class to complete work.)  The kids read the textbooks and complete outside work for an additional two hours each week.  The classes meet after Labor Day until the end of May.  We take two weeks off at Christmas and a week at Thanksgiving.  This is plenty of time to complete Chemistry and Physics.  Why?  The kids behave in class.  We don’t have distractions.  If a teen needs more time to clean up or complete a lab, she just stays and works.  Class time is devoted to lab and direct instruction.  

I have taught Co-op Biology which met one morning a week for three hours.  Many Co-ops adopt this model—especially to save on gas and extra trips.  I like to meet twice each week because there is less learning loss if we miss a session.

Indicator Solutions

 Have you made home-made, pH indicator solutions?  I use different indicators for labs : Red Cabbage, Universal indicator, phenolphthalein, and phenol red.  You can make red cabbage indicator from raw red cabbages or use Red Cabbage Jiffy Juice powder.  Another home-made indicator is Butterfly Pea tea.  I’ve read loads of instructions for red cabbage and butterfly tea indicator solutions.  In my experience, it’s best to use the indicators right away.  I’ve had the solutions change colors and distort pH labs after a few hours.    Here  is a chart with pH indicator colors for a host of fruits and vegetables for your teens to try.  You can save the solutions to use as natural dyes.  (Dharma Dyes sells natural dyes, too, and has excellent instructions, with ideas for mordants and fixers.)  Dyes in fabrics are sensitive to small changes in the pH of a solution, which makes them excellent indicators.  Dyes and indicators are the sort of project that appeals to young women and can help increase their interest in Chemistry.  Try this yourself!

Ionic Formulas Lab

I posted about the Chemistry of Paint and mentioned that many of the pigments were products of precipitation reactions.  You can tie the chemistry of paint or pigments with naming ionic compounds.  Here is a post about the lab itself.  Here is the lab we use.  (Home Science Tools sells many of these chemicals.). Here  is a similar lab with fewer chemicals.  The kids learn how to name compounds by making precipitates.  Have q-tips and art paper ready to let them paint with the precipitates.  It’s a great way to lead into another lab about pigments, dyes, and paint.  Below are two videos with instructions and a photo for the ionic formulas lab.

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Chemistry of Paint!

 Shocker!  I’m fiddling with some new ideas for the Fall Chemistry class.  I joined AACT to access new ideas and get Chemmatters magazines.  One idea is to have the kids make their own paint.  (National Chemistry Week has colorful resources: Chemistry Colors Our World, Chemistry and Art, and World of Color.  These activities are more about the science underlying color, chromatography, rather than Art.). 

Some of the traditional pigment labs require expensive chemicals or substances which are hard to dispose, such as lead or cyanide compounds—especially at home.  Keep that in mind when you Google Prussian Blue.  

I want something cheaper and less toxic: Casein Milk Paints, Plant Pigments, Egg Tempera Paints, and Ink.  Here is the first paint lab I plan to use.  HST has these chemicals.  (FYI, Na2CO3, sodium carbonate, Nais washing soda, and CaCl2, calcium chloride, is Drivewave Heat. You might have these chemicals already.)  The nice thing about this paint lab is that it is a ‘precipitates’ lab.  (Here is an excellent lab and tutorial about formation of precipitates.). You could use this precipitate lab, too and let the kids paint with the products.

Let me round out this post with a few good articles about the chemistry of paint: Pigment Definition and Chemistry, Pigments, and Pigment Chemistry.  Now I need to round up some decent art paper to make paintings.

Science at Home!

 I’m betting you are already doing science around your house.  My suggestion is to formally document the science, as part of a digital portfolio.  For example, do you have chickens?  Many of the local home-school families do here!  Do you keep records of their egg output?  What about various pest control techniques, such as diatomaceous earth?  Do natural cleaners work on chicken coops?  What about your 4-H or County Fair projects?

Gardens are another excellent source of science projects.  My Uncle Ken, is a retired farmer.  He loves to experiment with different containers: EarthBox planters, Grow Bags, or ordinary planters.  Uncle Ken has strong opinions on different soil mixes, fertilizers, calcium supplements, and watering schedules.  Let your kids experiment.  Which planter produces the most tomatoes?  What controls are necessary to make a fair comparison? (Consider the amount of water, soil type, position on the deck or porch, type of plant, etc.). 

 Are your kids obsessed with Social Media Challenges?  Why not try Steve Spangler’s Science Challenges?  (He has videos on YouTube and TikTok, too.). How many of these challenges can your kids duplicate successfully?

So, how do you add these types of science experiments to a digital portfolio? The key is documentation.  Create slideshows and add loads of photos and short video clips.  Work as a family to annotate the pix and clips.  Ideally, create and post spreadsheets with data: egg production, total number of tomatoes, etc.  4-H has great guides to help organize your projects: 4-H Rabbit Project, 4-H Poultry Project, 4-H Gardening, even 4-H Stem Challenge.  I like to start with a guide.  It’s likely that I’ll have my own ideas to expand or enhance the project; guides are a great way to launch a project.  Take a look at this sample Poultry Record Book.  Your kids could create a document or spreadsheet with similar data to include in a spreadsheet.

I’ve worked with many families who home-school.  Too often they overlook family projects loaded with science potential.  Even simple projects, such as monitoring  the pH and chlorine content in an above ground pool has science implications.  Go for it!

Mad Science Camp: Playdough Bubble Bath

 I’m always looking for fun ideas for Science Camp; the kids who came to Camp this summer are already asking about next year.  Here is the recipe for bubble bath play dough.    You may want to substitute vanilla for essential oils.  It sure looks like fun!

Virtual Labs: Biology

Are you teaching Biology?  You may want a few virtual labs for your Co-op group.  This past year, families kept kids home whenever they were ill and met with the live class remotely.  Virtual labs can be used to substitute for live labs.  Here are a few labs: Cell Homeostasis Virtual Lab (Cell Homeostasis Google Doc), Virtual Biology Lab, and Annenberg’s Ecology Lab.  

One more quick resource from Texas Gateway: Safety in the Lab.  You might want to assign this series of safety lessons to your Co-op class as homework.  I insist all of the kids and their parents sign Safety Contracts.  

Density Cubes

 I plan to make several posts; our little family is traveling back and forth to Fl for family emergencies.  The first Chem lab revolves around density.  I’m not teaching density, but am teaching accuracy, precision, metric measures, and good lab procedures.  I use density cube sets, similar to the one pictured below.  Here is a standard density lab.  The nice thing is that you can use these same cubes for a specific heat lab.  Take a look!

Chem Talk

 I just ran across Chem Talk, which has tutorials and experiments.  Take a look at Copper Crystals.  You’ll need copper II sulfate.  Copper II sulfate is called ‘blue stone’ and is a root killer.  Older hardware stores or agricultural stores still sell it by the pound.  (Here is another lab that uses copper sulfate, a single displacement reaction.  This lab uses the same materials but explores Stoichiometry, the math ratios in Chem.  You will want to use up the copper sulfate.). Now that I’m way off topic, Chem Talk has tutorials, like this one about Combined Gas Law.  Chem Talk is launching LiveLab this Fall.  I’ll keep posting resources for Chem as I encounter them.

Lego Atoms!

 This Fall I’m teaching Chemistry!  Yeah!  Do you use LEGOS as manipulatives?  They are great as atoms.  Here is a LEGO Atom Key.  Here are free teaching resources to use with LEGOs, such as Chemical Reactions. Here is a slideshow I made using LEGOS, nuts, bolts, and bottle tops to represent atoms.  

Teach Anatomy on a Budget!

 What basic equipment do you need for Anatomy?  I’ve taught both high school level and elementary level Anatomy.  The equipment is similar.  Stores near me have started to put out Halloween decorations.   Party City and Target have three foot tall skeletons under $20.  The first class challenge is to determine if the skeleton is accurate.  (Often there is no coccyx.). Invest in several packs of Sculpey Clay to make anatomical organs.  Buy the giant anatomy book pictured below.  I lost out on bids for anatomical models and posters repeatedly before I came a cross this book.  I just open it and prop it on the table for reference.  Buy used copies of an Anatomy coloring book, like the one below.   Many have few markings.  Take a look at 26 Interactive Ways to Teach Kids…anatomy.  I use all of them for younger kids: pasta skeletons, model interactive hand, and fake blood.  The post will give you ideas about household items to locate or save, such as plastic bottles and funnels, straws, and balloons.  You’ll need brass fasteners for paper skeletons and  the Nerve Test Lab.  My kids made egg carton skeletal models rather than the candy model suggested—much cheaper.  Our library system offers free printing and free copies.  I like for kids to label Life-size Paper Skeletons, human organs, and the Brain Hemisphere Hat.  While you are at the library, browse the stacks for experiment books.  See?  You can teach Anatomy without fancy equipment or expensive models.