Introduction
Students learn about the properties and interactions of some safe to handle household liquids and solids. They test a variety of materials to see what happens when things are mixed together: what dissolves, what reacts and what remains unaffected. They discover that when a solid material dissolves, it can be recovered as a crystal by evaporating the liquid. They also learn that when two materials react to form a new material, the original materials cannot be recovered. As an example of a chemical reaction, students learn to produce carbon dioxide gas and show that this gas differs from ordinary air.
Task
Start by searching your local library for books that can help you learn about Chemistry! Sign out 5 books that you can read and understand.
To get you ready for this unit watch Ready, Set, Dough!
***IMPORTANT!!!***
Mixing random chemicals from your house CAN result in dangerous reactions that can cause fires, explosions, or even create poision gasses. Do NOT play with chemicals! Even a chemical like bleach, which you use in your laundry, can become VERY dangerous if mixed with the wrong chemical.
Please choose and complete at least ONE activity for each curriculum outcome.
The Outcomes are numbered (1, 2, 3...)
Activities are listed alphabetically (a, b, c...)
For example you may choose to do activities 1b, 2a, 3a, 3b, 4c etc...
You can do MORE than one activity under each outcome but you must complete at least ONE under each numbered outcome.
Some activities need additional supplies or adult help but you can probably do most of them by yourself.
When you have completed at least ONE activity for EACH outcome, you can do the evaluation!
Process
1. Recognize and identify examples of the following kinds of mixtures:
a) two or more solids; e.g., sand and sugar
b) a solid and a liquid; e.g., sugar and water
c) two or more liquids; e.g., milk and tea.
- What happens when you mix different substances? Gather a variety of solids and liquids from your kitchen such as sugar, salt, baking powder, instant coffee, water, oil, vinegar, and milk. Choose and mix two substances together, for example water and sugar, or baking powder and salt. Make a chart with three columns titled "Substance A", "Substance B" and "Observations". Write down the two substances you choose and what you observe after mixing them.
- Make a guessing game for a friend or family member. Gather a variety of solids and liquids from your kitchen such as sugar, salt, baking powder, instant coffee, water, oil, vinegar, and milk. Choose and mix two substances together, for example water and sugar, or baking powder and salt. Place the mixture in a container such as an ice cube tray, plastic egg carton, or small bowls. Create a variety of different mixtures and place them in different parts of the tray. Give your family or friend a list of the substances you used and see if they can guess which two substances are mixed together in each tray. See how many they can get right.
2. Apply and evaluate a variety of techniques for separating different materials.
- Read this short article about Separating Mixtures. Complete the following experiments and observations to show how materials can be separated from each other. Create a step by step "How-to" cartoon/diagram for each method ("How to separate black marker into its colours", "How to separate dirt from water", "How to separate materials by using a magnet").
- Chromatography - Use at least 3 different washable markers for the experiment.
- Filtration: Mix 4 cups of tap water with 1/2 cup of dirt or sand. Using a coffee filter in a funnel, pour the dirty water through the filter (catch the water in a jar). Rinse the funnel, throw away the first filter, and put a clean filter in the funnel. Pour the water from the jar through the filter again. Repeat the filtration one more time. Allow the filtered water to sit undisturbed for one hour. Do you observe any particles settled at the bottom of the jar?
- Magnetism: Watch these two videos: Separating Iron and Sand & Waste Recycling
3. Distinguish substances that will dissolve in a liquid from those that will not, and demonstrate a way of recovering a material from solution.
- Set up an experiment using small bowls or jars of water. Choose some items from your pantry to dissolve in the water. Some things you might try are salt, flour, sugar, rice, baking soda, marshmallows, pretty much anything you have permission to try! Make predictions about what will happen before you mix each substance in water. Once you complete your experiment watch this video for an explanation of why some things dissolve, and some things don't: What Does Dissolve Mean in Chemistry? You can also watch a video about some important words in chemistry: Solution Solvent Solute
- How will one substance dissolve (or not dissolve) in different liquids? Start with a hard candy (candy canes work nicely but you could try others). Set up different solutions such as cold water, very warm water, oil, vinegar, etc... Start by making predictions about what will happen to the candy in each solution. You might choose to use this Experiment Sheet: Scientific Method. Then place the candy in each solution and observe what happens. You might want to make the experiment more interesting by timing the rate of dissolution.
4. Demonstrate a procedure for making a crystal.
- Create a Magic Crystal Cherry Blossom Tree. Gather cardboard, ammonia, Mrs. Stewart's bluing solution (buy it at Sears) water, salt, and food colouring. Follow the directions HERE to create a beautiful tree! Fill out or create an experiment sheet like this: Scientific Method. Make observations every few hours. You may want to take photos of the different stages of crystal growth.
- Create a Rock Candy crystal out of dissolved sugar! Follow the experiment directions HERE. Don't forget to make some observations about what happens over the next few days. You might want to take time lapse photos to show the crystal growth. This experiment is difficult to do successfully. You may find the results unexpected! But that's how experiments work (or don't!)
5. Recognize that the surface of water has distinctive properties, and describe the interaction of water with other liquids and solids. Just for fun, watch this video of water in Outer Space!
- How many drops of water can you stack on a coin? You will need: an eyedropper, dime, penny, nickel, quarter. Make a guess (hypothesis) of how many drops of water each coin can hold. Then start putting water drops on the coins! Don't forget to count! What do you observe happening during your experiment? Fill out or create an experiment sheet like this: Page 1 and Page 2. When you are finished the experiment, watch this video: What Causes Surface Tension in Water? ***Bonus. Try the experiment again using water mixed with dish soap. How do the results of the experiment change?
6. Produce carbon dioxide gas through the interaction of solids and liquids, and demonstrate that it is different from air.
- Create carbon dioxide gas out of baking soda and vinegar! You will need: safety glasses (just in case!), baking powder, vinegar, a balloon, a funnel (or paper rolled into a funnel), and a container with a narrow opening such as a pop bottle. Start by blowing up the balloon a few times then letting out the air to stretch it. Use a funnel to fill the balloon with baking soda (2 tablespoons at least). Pour vinegar into the bottle to fill it about half way. Place the opening of the balloon over the mouth of the bottle WITHOUT letting the baking soda fall in. Once the bottle opening is sealed by the balloon, lift the balloon to let the baking soda fall into the vinegar. Observe what happens! Release the gas either outside or in a bathroom with the fan on. Don't breathe it in. You might want to watch this video for help: Fun Science
- Make a mess! You need to get permission for this experiment! You will need Mentos, and a bottle of Coke (or any carbonated drink). FIRST read this: Why Do Mentos React with Coke? After you read the article, draw a diagram of what will happen when you mix Mentos and Coke. Finally, try the experiment! Quickly pour mentos into a botte of coke and stand back! You will want to do this either outside or in an enclosed shower stall. MAKE SURE YOUR PARENTS SUPERVISE!!! You will get messy!
7. Distinguish reversible from irreversible changes of materials, and give examples of each.
- Watch this VIDEO. Play with this site: Reversible and Irreversible Changes. Play with this other site: Top Marks Chemistry. Try these quizzes to see what you know and what you still might need to find out!This is a good activity to talk about with a friend or adult. You might want to try and pbserve some of these reactions yourself.
8. Recognize and describe evidence of a chemical reaction. Explain how the products of a reaction differ from the original substances.
9. Use an indicator to identify a solution as being acidic or basic.
- First, find out what acids and bases are HERE.
***BONUS***
Are you enjoying learning about chemistry? Here are some links to videos about chemistry. You might not understand EVERYTHING in these videos, but I bet you'll know more about chemistry and molecules and reactions after you watch them! Take a look and find out how chemistry impacts the world around you!
Chemical Reactions
Acids and Bases
Atoms and Molecules: A cartoom about the teeny tiniest invisible parts of chemsitry
Acid-Base Reactions in Solution: Find out about acid rain!
Crash Course Chemistry: Okay this series is complex and sometimes a wee bit confusing but it is also super cool, sometimes funny, and not just kid stuff. You can gain a lot from watching (an rewatching) these videos. In fact, your parents might want to learn along with you!
Evaluation
The Great Cookie Investigation!!!
READ THIS ENTIRE PAGE BEFORE YOU BEGIN
All right, scientists! AFTER you have completed ALL the activities in the process section you should be ready to complete the Great Cookie Investigation!
During this investigation you will have a chance to use all your understanding of chemistry, as well as your skills in performing experiments, to discover the BEST cookie recipe by baking 5 cookies and changing ONE part of the recipe for each cookie.
Here's what you need to do:
1) Choose a recipe to use as your BASIC ONE COOKIE RECIPE. You can find some examples of recipes for one cookie HERE, HERE, and HERE
2) Create a Cookie Cook Book that has 8 pages. There should be one page that explains the experiment, 5 pages to show what happened during the experiment (one page per cookie you bake), and two pages to explain what you think happened and the results of the experiment. Your Cookie Cook Book could be as simple as 8 pieces of lined paper stapled together. Or you could be creative: Book Making Ideas
3) PAGE ONE: Lay out the experiment. What is your quesiton/problem (eg "How does changing an ingredient change a cookie?"). What materials will you need to complete the experiment? What part of the recipe do you plan to change (only change ONE ingredient in each trial!)? What steps will you follow (procedure)? What do you think will happen (hypothesis) and why?
4) PAGE TWO: Write out the basic recipe you will use. Bake the cookie and draw what it looked like, or include a picture.
5) PAGES 3-6: Bake four different cookies by changing ONE part of the recipe for each cookie. What will you change? Will you increase or decrease the amount of an ingredient? Will you add a new ingredient? Will you change how the cookie is prepared (eg freeze before baking, whip instead of mix, increase temperature or cooking time)? On each page explain WHAT you changed, WHAT you predicted would happen, WHAT HAPPENED, and a drawing/photo of the cookie result.
6) PAGE 7-8: Conclude your experiment. What did you learn? What were some challenges? If you could redo the experiment what are three changes you would make? Which recipe is your favourite? Which cookie was the worst?
***BONUS***
You could also create a mini-survey of which cookie tastes best. give a piece of each cookie to some volunteers to taste. Which cookie is the favourite? Create a graph or chart of your results!
You might want to read about HOW INGREDIENTS CHANGE COOKIES or SCIENCE BEHIND BAKING or THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO BAKING COOKIES
Cookie Monster might be helpful in developing your plan (or maybe not...)! Cookie Shapes Cookie Experiment
Your final product will be a GOOD COPY of your cookie book. Make if MAGNIFICENT!