03.20.2015
Written By: Joseph DeWilde
Students learned about reaction kinetics today. In the last lesson, they were introduced to reaction thermochemistry and were pretty excited to experiment with chemical reactions. At the beginning of class, I gave them a short recap on the lessons learned. As part of this recap, I discussed my strategy about paying for college without any support from my parents. I feel that this lecture was a bit dry and fell somewhat short, so, next time, I will try to make it more engaging as I think it is still worthwhile. In the experiments, students got to use glowsticks to determine the reaction rate (brightness) as a function of temperature. As expected, the glowsticks were a huge hit (as was the liquid nitrogen used to cool them down). Additionally, the reaction of acetic acid and sodium bicarbonate (vinegar and backing soda) with pickled red cabbage juice as an indicator was used to determine the variables that effect reaction rate. Overall, I would say that both I and the students were quite happy with the experiment, but time constraints were an issue. Next time, I would use the glowsticks as a demonstration up front in the beginning of class and use the majority of the rest of the time allowing the students to design their own experiments with the vinegar and baking soda reaction. I want to send our heartfelt thanks to KIPP and the Science Supernovas. We have learned so much from this experience and we hope that they have too!