Make Your Own Chemistry Kit

 I made up Chemistry Kits for my Co-op Chemistry class to do labs at home.  Do you want to make your own chemistry kit, perhaps as a Christmas gift?  I started with labs, then make up the kit.  Now, I want my kids to do at least thirty labs.  My kit is tailored to high school chemistry.  If you are making up a kit for elementary-aged students, ACS has over thirty Experiments  and Science Activities for kids to do at home.  Plan to have a sleeve of clear, plastic cups, craft sticks, q-tips, and coffee filters, and safety glasses in your kit.   Many of the experiments cited require red cabbage leaves.  Consider buying Red Cabbage Extract Powder.  Put a small amount in a plastic bag and reserve the rest for refills because the powder is expensive.  Look for several labs with overlapping chemicals: baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice, citric acid, cornstarch, etc.  Here, here, here, and here  are examples of vibrant DIY science kits. Below are some of the materials in the Chem kits I sent home, packaged in empty coffee cans; even a coffee can festooned with a bow can make a great gift.

Hands-on Cell Unit

Hands-on works for cells.  Start with Cell models for both plant and animal cells.  Cell-ebrate has some great ideas.  Stipulate which organelles with a grading rubric.  Make comparisons between plant and animal cells with Vern diagrams and a plant and animal cell foldable.  Make this animal cell coloring page and this plant cell coloring page part of the foldable.  Introduce cells with this microscope lab.  I just get out slides of cork, euglena, plants, etc. for kids to look at under the microscope.  Add labeled microscope sketches to the foldable.  You may want to integrate the foldable into a lap book.  Let your child take photos and create a digital slideshow for their home-school portfolio.  These activities require an investment of time—it’s worth it!  

We use an inexpensive digital microscope which attaches to a Chromebook or laptop to look at slides.  We take screenshots and sketch images.

Family Science: Money

Let’s round-up experiments and science articles about money.  The Captivating Chemistry of Coins has an article and three hands-on experiments, such as cleaning pennies.  Scientific American has the same experiment—with more detail.  Flinn has The Science Behind Pennies.  Try to see how many Water Drops on a Penny.  Can you load 50 drops?  If you have yen, they float in water.  Measure Reaction time by dropping a dollar or a ruler.  Have you wondered how Counterfeit Pens Work?  Are Counterfeit Pens Reliable?  Here are several articles from the U.S. Currency Education Program. Do you have a big jar of pennies?  Sort out pennies older than 1982 and do this Density Lab. Flinn has this lab, Biological Currency, to test newer one dollar bills.  Look at currency under the microscope.  We use a digital microscope with a USB adapter and a laptop or Chromebook to examine currency.  It’s fun to look at foreign currency, too.  It’s fun to look for security features in the one dollar and five dollar bills.

Star Wars Lego Boost

Update: Frugal Fun had posted Star Wars LEGO Boost was a Prime Day deal at $134.99.  Right now Amazon has it priced at $176.38.  Watch for Black Friday deals. 

The Star Wars Lego Boost is much easier than Lego Boost Creative Toolbox.  Each Star Wars droid has its own sets of numbered bags of Legos.  We had to disassemble each project in the Toolbox Boost before starting a new project.  We spent hours locating bitty parts.  I can see Paul keeping the droids on a shelf for safekeeping, too.  The only issue is the price of Star Wars Boost: $199.  Ouch.  Below are pix of the first build.

Uncovering Student Ideas

Kids frequently have misconceptions in science.  One of the best series of science activities is Uncovering Student Ideas.  Here is a sample from Uncovering Student Ideas about Engineering and Technology and another sample from Volume 1.  Page Keeley refers to these ideas as probes, ways to get kids to think.  Look at this sample, which has What’s in the Bubbles?  The student page asks kids to think about the bubbles forming.  The teacher notes explain the purpose of the probe, an explanation, and common misconceptions at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels.  NSTA books are always a bit pricey—even used.  See if your library has a copy to preview.  I think the series works best for elementary-aged students. But, I have used a few in high school, too, such as Cookie Crumbles. (Scroll way down to locate it.) 

Graphing Calculator Labs for Chemistry

 Boy are there many constraints this year!  My Co-op class meets remotely.  My goals are two-fold: doing more labs and using the graphing calculator.  I’m trying to combine these two goals and use materials I sent home with their Chem kits.  Earlier my kids performed and graphed Heat Up Some Cool Reactions and the Heating Curve Lab.  I need to assign more labs or the kids will forget how to graph.  This Solubility Lab with salt and sugar is perfect.  The kids have digital scales in the Chem kits I sent home and can use stop watches on their cell phones.  Here is an Excel exercise, kids can graph with a TI 83/84.  Below are videos explaining how to enter data, graph a heating curve,  and calculate a linear regression.

Apologia Chemistry: Types of Chemical Reactions

 Module 4 has a section which introduces types of chemical reactions.  I have some intro material in this slideshow.  Here is a YouTube video lecture on types of chemical reactions.  Here is Types of Chemical Reactions from POGIL.  This worksheet and this one have answer keys.  Science Spot has this slideshow and student worksheet for Chemical Reactions.  I don’t spend a great deal of time on types of reactions.  Instead, I launch into balancing equations and review types of reactions as we balance equations.  Below is an example of a double replacement reaction.

Apologia Biology: Chemistry of Life

 The Chemistry of Life is a critical unit.  It’s also a tough unit.  My kids use Labaids Molecules of Life models and questions.  Have the kids build these molecules.  I have used Biological Molecules with a set of molecules.  Here are instructions for clay molecules. Carbon atoms are usually black, hydrogen white, oxygen blue or red.  Here is a key to the colors of the molecules.  Here is a molecule set. You need loads of carbon and hydrogen atoms to make bigger molecules. Here is a Labaids set for large Co-op groups.  Try Good Will.  They often have molecule sets.  

The kids test food, too.  You might want to buy Innovating Science’s Testing Food for Nutrients kit.  HST has nutrient test kits, too.  This is one instance a kit may prove more economical because the test reagents add up.  Here is a nutrient lab to see the test reagents: Biuret, Benedicts’s, and Iodine solutions.  Here is a slideshow demonstrating positive tests for proteins, starch, and sugars.  Here are instructions and a data table for food tests.  Test Knox gelatin, oatmeal, chips, vegetable oil, sugar, crackers, dry milk, etc.  you may want to test the number of calories in food, too, with Flinn’s Soda Can Calorimeter.  The lab explains how to do the calorie calculations.  Try these labs.

Apologia Chemistry: Ionic and Covalent Nomenclature

 I want to share the notes and quizzes for Ionic and Covalent Nomenclature, including the test: Ionic Compounds, Covalent Molecules, Ionic Quizzes, Ionic Quiz 2, Ionic Quiz 3 and Covalent Quiz 1, and Nomenclature Test.  

Free Science Resources

 The number of home-based science resources available is unprecedented.  Yes, these companies all promote their products.  I want to share an assortment of resources from commercial vendors.  First is Vernier’s Experiment and Sample Data Library.  Vernier makes sensors, such as EasyTemp for the TI 84 calculator.  The library has tons of lab experiments.  Vernier offers these Coding Activities with Scratch and Arduino.  Likewise, Vernier’s competitor, Pasco, has a Lab Experiment Library.  

Flinn Scientific offers free lab videos and at-home-activities as part of Flinn At-Home Science.  Nasco has free lessons, such as Mini Rockets.  Ward’s Science has a variety of activities, such as Vanishing Styrofoam Cup and The Periodic Table of Candy.  Browse Ward’s Resources.  PITSCO has these STEM activities, such as building a Rube Goldberg Machine.

I found The Law of Conservation of Mass Lab (Teacher Notes) at Carolina Biological, under Resources, on their home page.  Browse the selection of Interdisciplinary activities.  Forestry Suppliers has Science Scene, a blog; one example is Live Streaming the Natural Way.  Don’t forget lessons tailored to home-school students from Educational Innovations and Home Science Tools.   Astounding, isn’t it?  

Innovating Science Kits

 One source for affordable kits is Innovating Science.  Do you want a few labs to supplement the experiments in Apologia?  The Innovating Science kits, such as Periodic Table: Nonmetals, Metals, and Metalloids may work for you.  The instructions are clearly written.  I like the Blood Typing Kit.  My kids test and type fake blood before we test their blood types.  I shop eBay and Amazon for the best price.  Before you buy a kit, Paper Chromatography for instance, or Elephant’s Toothpaste, search the title online.  Elephant’s Toothpaste  and Paper Chromatography are easy to perform and do not require a kit.  Testing blood types can be confusing for kids.  I buy a kit, demonstrate the procedures, and then supervise the lab. It saves me from making fake blood which may not simulate for real blood typing very well.  Innovating Science makes great kits.