MEL Chemistry Kits

 Have you seen the ads for MEL Chemistry kits?  It’s a subscription plan.  Nope, I didn’t take a subscription.  Instead, I’ve been bidding on lots of kits available at Good Will online. (eBay has loads of kits available, too.)  My target price is $10 per kit.  The screen shot below is the latest lot I won on Good Will; I paid $33 for the set of four kits with shipping.  I didn’t count the starter set when I placed my bid.    I’m using the kits as incentives; the kids who work efficiently and finish ahead of the class get to select and test a kit.  This allows the rest of the class time to finish their labs.  I wanted a chance to evaluate the MEL kits, too.  This morning, Joe started But, will it burn?  This lab produces hydrogen gas, which the kids have already done.  But the kit has new equipment, which is always cool.  Two other boys opened Tin and  Alchemy kits to try next week.  I ordered more of the chemicals for these kits so everyone has a chance to try them.  Are these kits worth $10?  Maybe.  You do need the Starter set  if you don’t have basic lab equipment.  The kits have enough chemicals for three trials.  If your teen loves Chemistry and you can buy a lot at a decent price, the MEL kits make good birthday or Christmas presents.  My teens now have a powerful incentive to move through their labs more quickly, instead of gabbing.

Solubility Rules Lab

 The kids are completing the Solubility Rules lab.  I am thrilled with the results and wanted to share a few more pix.  After the kids finished the lab, I spent time getting each teen discussing the patterns.  Which compounds are generally soluble or insoluble?  After I showed the teens this Solubility Rules Chart.  This lab works well if you have a number of compounds; we used fourteen different compounds.  Labs, like these require a huge investment of time to complete.  However, this lab reinforces double replacement reactions, nomenclature, reaction prediction, and formation of precipitates.  Take a look!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Make a secret message with water beads.  Here are instructions.  Write or print the message.  Hydrate clear water beads.  Cover the message with the beads.  When you add water, the beads disappear revealing the message!  Fun, right?  We did the demo in class today.  I hadn’t cleaned up an earlier lab with water beads.  So I invested five minutes to make the demo.  Just write a sweet massage, place a clear bowl over the message, and cover it with water beads.  Add water to reveal the message.  I forgot to take an after photo when I completed the demo.

Happy Valentine’s Day!  

Can you make 2 grams?

 I just posted about this Stoichiometry lab.  I had an idea last night about making filtration assemblies.  I have one vacuum filtration set.  One.  I do have many, many yogurt cups and lids.  We buy yogurt in bulk. The kids cut a hole in the yogurt lid for the plastic funnel.  They poured their filtrate into the funnels using gravity filtration, or just allowing the water to slowly pour through the funnel.  Here is gravity filtration with a ring stand, ring, glass funnel, and flask.  Below are pix of our filtration assemblies.  We do operate on a budget!

 

Apologia Chemistry: Module 7 Atomic Structure

 Once we finish Stoichiometry next week, we’re tackling atomic structure, Module #7.  I have several activities I do every time I teach Chemistry: Atomic Theory Timeline, the Beanium Isotope Lab (Here is a slideshow with sample calculations.). Flame Test Lab, (Here is a blog post with more links.). POGIL activities, and Hog Hilton.  There are several worthwhile POGIL activities to consider: What Makes an Atom?,  Atomic Models and Development of the Atom, and Electron Configurations.  This is an especially important module.  Take time to do some labs!

Balance Equations with Candy!

 I just ran across Sweetly Balanced Equations.  I wish I had seen this idea earlier.  I have no problem using candy in science classes.  Anything that motivates kids works for me.  A teacher posted pix of her class balancing with candy on social media.  Teachers commented on alternatives: pony beads, paper clips, Fruit Loops cereal, etc, all much cheaper.  But kids like candy.  They remember labs they like.  BTW my posts are likely to be shorter and fewer in number.  I just entered tax season and am in ‘survivor mode’ until the middle of April.

Solubility Rules Lab

 Below are pix.  Yes, we spent some time discussing precipitates, solubility, and ion dissociation.  Here is another lab with a chart and a brief discussion of the formation of precipitates.  The kids each has different ways to keep the ions organized.

The kids are doing some reaction prediction along with Stoichiometry with the  Can you make 2 grams? lab.  However, for these double replacement labs, we need to understand solubility to predict the precipitate which forms.  So, the kids are doing a Solubility Rules Lab with these ions.  I took the ions from this solubility lab.  Once again, I’m using chemicals I have on hand.  I’ll post pix Thursday.  The main idea is for kids to think critically and use deductive reasoning to understand which ionic compounds are soluble and which aren’t.  The insoluble solids are the precipitates.  Below are the chemicals I have on hand we’re using.  You can give the kids either list to reinforce nomenclature or writing formulas.  My kids are making their own charts before beginning the lab.  

Chemistry on a Budget: Can you make 2 grams? Lab

The kids are working on Stoichiometry.  Let me share my slideshow about Stoichiometry.  Here is the worksheet for the calculations.  My kids are each getting different reactants, such as these reactant pairs.  Epsom salts are magnesium sulfate decahydrate.  Driveway Heat is calcium chloride dihydrate.  These two  compounds form a precipitate.  Epsom salts, magnesium sulfate decahydrate, and sodium carbonate, or washing soda, also forms a precipitate.  Calcium chloride and baking soda, sodium bicarbonate, also form a precipitate.  (This link has the complete unit for precipitates with the handouts.)  My point is you only need one set of reactants for this lab.  It’s cheap!  It’s also an excellent way to evaluate if your teen understands Stoichiometry.

For the Can you make 2 grams lab?, use these instructions for the reaction between calcium chloride and sodium carbonate (Driveway Heat and washing soda.). The goal is to determine how much of each reactant is needed to produce two grams of the precipitate, calcium carbonate.  

Step 1. Write and balance the equation.

Step 2. Convert 2 grams of the precipitate to moles of precipitate.  

Step 3.  Apply the mole ratios to determine how many moles of each reactant are needed.

Step 4.  Convert the moles to grams of each reactant.

Step 5.  Mix each the mass of reactant separately into 50 mL of water, then combine.  Allow to form the precipitate, filter out the precipitate, and allow to dry.  Weigh the dry precipitate and calculate the percent error.  

Step 6. Write a formal lab report using this lab report rubric.

Most of the online home-schools require four formal lab reports each year.  I assign this lab because the kids hate it.  Teens usually hate writing lab reports, too.  Why spoil a fun lab?  We might as well just add to the misery of the 2 Grams lab.

Family Science: FOSS Program

 In addition to teaching Chemistry, I work directly to home-school two, close, family friends.  Mary is eight.  She has a solid curriculum.  But, I always want to inject a little more science.  When I taught in private school, the Upper School science teachers determined the science curriculum for the Lower School.  As a group, we researched several programs: STC, Delta Science, and FOSS.  We selected four, complete kits for each grade in the Lower School because the Lower School teachers wanted kits with books that were easy to use.

I like the STC program the most; however, any of these programs have fun activities.  The FOSS  stories and science notebooks are widely available on eBay, Thrift books, etc for about $5 each.    Below are pages from the Measurement Stories book and the Measurement ScienceNotebook.  I’m still hunting for a good deal on the Magnetism and Electricity Science Notebook.  I use these exercises as science enrichment.  Mary comes over weekly to work while her older sister takes Math with Co-op.  I set Mary up with different activities: Literature questions, Geography, sentence diagramming, etc.  Once she finishes, I have an activity for her, from one of these booklets.  We might start the Young Explorers Zoology series later: I have the textbook and journal.  Right now, we have to make sure Mary stays on top of the basics.  Sound familiar?  But, I can’t help wanting to add some science; so, we’re using FOSS, too.  If you run across a booklet like this one at the thrift store, it’s a great idea to add more simple labs to your curriculum.

Hydrate Lab Spreadsheet

 The kids have finished the Hydrate lab and have completed spreadsheets.  I made a copy of a student spreadsheet with the formulas.  Our Co-op made a decision a few years ago to add more rigor to the classes.  We have teens make spreadsheets to summarize data fairly often.  The data sheet served as the lab report for the Hydrate lab.  The teens create spreadsheets for their math, Physics, and Finance classes, too.  Take a look at the spreadsheet’s formulas.  The kids must think about each exercise when they summarize data, as well as understand percent composition in hydrates.  

Chemistry on a Budget: Let it Snow!

 We had our first winter dusting of snow—perfect for a winter science unit.  Start with this article, Salting Roads.  It explains freezing point depression, a colligative property, and compares sodium chloride and calcium chloride.  Melting Ice with Salt has eleven pages of detailed notes with the lab: vocabulary, activity guides, and answer keys.  My science camp did this Melting Ice Experiment; the kids experimented with an ice block, salt, and paint.  (I froze bowls of ice. This link has a few more fun ideas, such as experimenting with paint and baking soda.) Here is a high school level lab, Freezing Point Depression, using calcium chloride, sodium chloride, and sugar.  The lab calls for aluminum chloride Hexahydrate.  I don’t have any.  However, magnesium chloride hexahydrate is another de-icer.  If you have some on hand, use it for the lab, too.  Have a fun snow day!