Week 3: A little delay

Welcome back to my blog!

My apologies for the delay on this post. Students were on spring break last week, so I did not have an opportunity to conduct my program. However, I have been doing more research and students are back from spring break this week! 

This Thursday I will be primarily working with middle schoolers. I want to do another hands-on experiment with students, so we will be creating and designing model volcanoes. Students will be put into groups of 3-4, and will work together to assemble their volcanoes. Students will also be given arts supplies to paint and decorate their volcanoes.

Splitting students into groups will help facilitate collaboration. Students will work with others they do not typically work with to better improve their cooperation skills. Additionally, having students decorate their volcanoes will engage students more and get them enthusiastic about the project. 

After students build and decorate their model volcanoes we will then use baking soda, vinegar, red food colouring, and dishwashing detergent to create a reaction. This reaction will be pretty visual, so it should get students excited and interested in the experiment. I will then explain the science behind this chemical reaction between the baking soda and vinegar, and use it to discuss other chemical reactions. 

By building a foundation on chemical reactions I can explain chemical reactions behind different renewable energies. This will help students understand renewables better, and learn some school science as well. I look forward to updating you all on this exciting experiment! Stay tuned for my update!

-Luc