Enrichment Ideas for Material
Properties and Change
 
Expand the boundaries of your kit study. Encourage your
students' curiosity with these outlets for extending
engagement in research.
home
and classroom hands-on activities | online activities | interesting tidbits | mini-movies
Home and Classroom Hands-on
Activities
Chemistry Lessons
Divided into sections based on grade level groupings (from
early elementary through high school), this page has lists
of links to neat chemistry extension activities, such as
learning about contaminated drinking water, making
toothpaste and paint from scratch, and exploring the
chemical reactions that make ice cream.
Exploratoruim Snacks About Chemistry
These mini-experiments ("snacks") from the Exploratorium may
serve as fun extension activities for your class. Create
giant bubbles, make a portable cloud, and examine the
chemistry of taste.
Biochemistry of the Eggshell
This experiment challenges you to explore the effects of an
acidic solution on eggs. What will occur? You can find out.
Kitchen Chemistry
Appropriate for students from grades K-3, and adapted from
the activities included in The pH Factor, these
experiments are clear and useful.
Delights of Chemistry
This site by School of Chemistry at the University of Leeds
(UK) features forty chemistry demonstrations illustrated and
explained, hundreds of chemistry photographs, and dozens of
chemistry mini-movies.
Bread Chemistry
Newton's Apple explains the chemistry behind bread
ingredients, including the roles of such key players as
yeast, enzymes, and salt. While offering insights into why
it is that bread rises, this page also provides vocabulary
words, additional resources, and ideas for hands-on
activities.
Water Cycle Changes
On this page, you'll find some examples of hypotheses that
fourth grade students devised and tested stemming from their
work with Insight's Changes of State kit. Read here for mini-
synopses of their experiments involving melting,
evaporation, condensation and freezing.
Go with the Flow
This activity explores water patterns (i.e., laminar flow,
turbulence) by using a mixture of water and liquid hand soap
in a plastic bottle.
Household Chemistry
This thorough page of information and activities explores
the nature of chemical reactions; how chemistry experiments
can be done at home (or in class); what pH is; and how to
discern whether something is acidic or basic. Along with the
main activity (in this case, testing pH), there are
extension activities, background insights, a vocabulary
list, and bibliographic references.
Chemical Properties of Common Powders
This page could be a particularly useful extension for
classes working with Insights' The Mysterious Powder kit.
Using five common household powders, students are challenged
to observe them carefully and then perform tests on them
using sugar, water, vinegar, baking soda, and red cabbage
juice.
Metric Scavenger Hunt
This easy-to-prepare activity challenges students to apply
measurement skills to everyday life, by making a game of
locating classroom objects of certain metric lengths.
Requires Adobe Reader.
Making Custom T-shirts for Kids
This fun (if potentially messy) activity could be a fun
extension to a class studying fabrics, liquids, and changes.
The instructions are detailed, and there are tips and new
ideas from other teachers at the bottom of the page.
Make Recycled Paper
Beakman and Jax tell you what paper is made of and how to
make your own recycled paper at home (or in class!), step by
step. The process is simple and fun!
[Back to
Top]
Online Activities
Density Lab: Float or Sink?
Users can drop different objects into a pail of liquid, a
graduated cylinder of liquid (to measure displacement), or
weigh them on a scale. By using the tools to investigate the
density of the objects, you can predict whether the objects
will float or sink in the pail of liquid. Dropping the
objects into the pail is fun even if you don't do the
calculations, and could be useful to launch a discuss of
liquids; solids; comparing and measuring; and balancing and
weighing. Requires Shockwave.
Floating Log Activity
By manipulating mass, density, and other variables, you can
find out how much weight can be put on it without sinking.
While the math will be more advanced, you can easily adapt
this site to relate to themes of solids, liquids, and
weighing. Requires Shockwave.
Measure It!
These online measurement activities are perfect for young
learners to go online and develop their measuring skills.
With difficulty levels ranging from "easy" to "super brain,"
kids can practice reading centimeters and inches.
Learn About the Chemicals Around Your House
The Environmental Protection Agency takes kids on a
clickable tour of household chemicals. While the intent of
the tour is to raise awareness of toxic substances in the
home, this could also be a good way to illustrate the
omnipresence of chemical mixtures and solutions in our daily
lives.
[Back to
Top]
Interesting Tidbits
The Chemistry of Autumn Colors
Every fall, people wonder about what makes the leaves change
color so beautifully, and the chemical processes at work are
explained here.
Is Glass a Liquid?
Two articles linked from this page debunk the legend that
glass is actually a liquid of sorts, and offer explanations
as to how people came to believe this false notion.
Learn About the Chemicals Around Your House
The Environmental Protection Agency takes kids on a
clickable tour of household chemicals. While the intent of
the tour is to raise awareness of toxic substances in the
home, this could also be a good way to illustrate the
omnipresence of chemical mixtures and solutions in our daily
lives.
The History of Chemistry
Arranged by topic, the history of chemistry is explored
through biographies of scientists whose research helped to
further and refine the field. This is not an easy resource
to read straight through, but it would be quite useful if
you seek to investigate a particular topic or scientist.
Note: Students wrote the biographies, and sometimes they're
tongue-in-cheek, but they are well researched.
[Back to
Top]
Mini-Movies
Compounds and Mixtures Movie
The friendly animators at BrainPOP use the tasty medium of
brownies as a jumping-off point to explain the difference
between compounds and mixtures. The movie images are very
helpful in illuminating these sometimes-tricky concepts.
Buoyancy Movie
Simple examples and visuals help to explain what buoyancy is
and how it works in this animated BrainPOP movie.
States of Matter Movie
This animated mini-movie from BrainPOP explains
solids, liquids, gases, and plasma using language
and everyday examples that would be easy for young
learners to understand and follow.
Delights of Chemistry
This site by School of Chemistry at the University
of Leeds (UK) features forty chemistry
demonstrations illustrated and explained, hundreds
of chemistry photographs, and dozens of chemistry
mini-movies.
[Back to
Top]
|
