Week 11: Stations

 Week 11 Chemistry Stations


This week we began chemistry and focused on many interactive activities of observing different phenomenon occurring. We were pushed to make observations, ask questions, and make claims without being given any answers. 

The phenomena we encountered included:

  • plunger suction
  • Ice melting faster on certain materials (metal vs wood)
  • Coke vs Diet Coke floating and sinking
  • Vinegar and baking soda sealed in a bag
  • M & M's in water
  • Condensation on different coke temperatures

At each station it was our job to observe what was occurring and discuss with our group why we thought these things were happening. For example at one of the stations the plunger was pushed down onto the table and a suction occurred where it was very difficult to pull the plunger off. As a group we had to discuss why this was happening and the plunger stayed suctioned down. At the M&M station they were placed in water and the colors began bleeding out but not mixing. Our group had to make observations and figure out why we thought the colors were not mixing. All the other stations were very similar, we would observe something and try to figure out what was happening. At the end of all the stations and investigations we discussed our findings as a large group. We also made a driving questions board of all of our lasting questions that the professor said we would be referring back to next class. 

Some of the notes and observations I took: 

  • Plunger
    • air pressure/suction
  • melting ice
    • the stainless steel pan melted the ice faster than the wood and ceramic because of the bonds in the metal that conduct heat
  • Coke vs. Diet Coke
    • Coke sinks corn syrup
    • Diet coke floats because it is less dense due to the aspartame 
  • Volcano
    • fills with air
  • MnMs
    • colors are pushing against each other
One of the questions that I still had was why do the colors in the M&Ms not mix?


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