10.30.2015
Written By: Joseph DeWilde
In the last lesson, they were introduced to reaction thermochemistry and were pretty excited to experiment with chemical reactions. Today we introduced the topic of reaction kinetics. At the beginning of class, I gave them a short recap on the lessons learned and covered my method to pay for college without support from my parents. I kept this recap shorter than I did last year to give the students ample time to explore their experiment. Before beginning the experiment, I asked the students what would happen to glowsticks that were at various temperatures (room, ice water, 80 °C, and liquid nitrogen) and placed them in each bath until the end of our session. In the experiment, 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 affect reaction rate. Overall, I would say that the students were engaged and the extra time granted by making the glowsticks a demonstration allowed students to pose their own questions and propose their own experiments. At the end of class, they discovered that glowsticks were brighter the hotter they were (faster reaction). To celebrate Halloween, we gave the students glowsticks and exploded a pumpkin outside; everyone had a blast!