Activity 8: Exploring Chemistry

For activity 8, students have a choice to explore other topics of chemistry presented in the PhET simulations. 

Tasks to be completed:

1.   Choose any Teaching Idea from any of the Chemistry Simulations (http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/category/chemistry ) and post your results/data and/or answers on your blog.

2. Work with any of the Chemistry Simulations to create your own Teaching Idea. The criteria for this is as follows:

a. must identify and meet three (3) science education standards

b. must be original work

c. must be scientifically accurate and appropriate for the directed grade level.

My Chemistry Teaching Idea: Static Charge Challenge

My students will be able to understand that because of the static charge, negative and positive charges will come together to make objects such as a balloon and a piece of paper stick together.

Standards of Science Education:

1)   A.4.1 When conducting science investigations ask and answer questions that will help decide the general areas of science being addressed.

2)   C.4.2 Use the science content being learned to ask questions, plan investigations, make observations, make predictions, and offer explanations

3)   C.4.7 Support their conclusions with logical arguments

Procedure:

            Students will begin by observing myself as the teacher rubbing a balloon against a wool sweater and then placing the balloon against a wall.  They will hypothesis why the balloon stuck to the wall.  Once their hypotheses are written they will compare them with other students to see if they can activate prior knowledge.  Once sharing is done, the students will be broken into groups for the experiment.  Students will receive one balloon per group, and 10 small pieces of ripped paper.  Students will then be asked to pick up the pieces using only the balloon.  A graph will be made to calculate how many pieces of paper they can pick up, and how many times they rubbed the balloon on the wool sweater.  Once they have completed their graphs and experiments we will write our thoughts to why the paper could be picked up and how to pick up the most pieces. 

Discussion:

We will then go around the room and check if our hypotheses were correct and explain why so.  I will discuss the presence of positive and negative charges in the balloon and in the paper or wall.  I will explain how the positive charges wish to come together with the negative charges, causing them to stick.  I will also explain that by creating more charge by rubbing the balloon more rapidly on the sweater will allow for more paper pieces to be picked up.

Questioning & Answers:

            Students will have the opportunity to ask questions and get more clarity on the project if they need more support in understanding the topic.

·      The reasoning for having my students make hypotheses, ask questions, and make graphs meets the standard of A.4.1. and C.4.2. At the end of the experiment by asking for their conclusions supports the standard of C.4.7.