Show young chemists what a chemical reaction looks like with two parts of a hands-on experiment. First, learners conduct a wet lab where they observe the reactants (baking soda and calcium chloride, with phenolsulfonphthalein) before, during, and after the experiment. Next, they model what happened in the wet lab with Lego blocks.

Concepts

atoms, molecules, chemical reactions, legos, elements, mass, matter, exothermic reactions, endothermic reactions

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• A great experiment to introduce enrollees to your chemistry class
• Have class members work on the experiment as part of a school-wide science fair
• Encourage learners to think of additional ways to demonstrate what they learn in chemistry

Classroom Considerations

• Comes with a script for instruction, but you don't need to use it if you'd prefer to teach on your own
• The lab will take several regular class periods to complete, or one double period

Pros

• Engaging for learners who need multiple ways to visualize the reactions
• Comes with pictures of examples and explanations
• Provides a reference sheet, worksheet, and answer key

Cons

• Lesson includes a lot of explanation and procedures (30 pages cover one two-part experiment)