A Little Experiment SOLC 7 of 31

Thanks to Ruth and Stacey for hosting Slice of Life Writing Challenge.


This morning was one of those mornings.  I got up early and was out the door by 7:00 AM. I wanted to get to school to do some lesson plans for next week so I could get a little ahead.  We all know where this is headed...everything but what I had planned to do needed to be taken care of before the bell rang.

As soon as I plopped my keys on my desk, I remembered that today was our science experiment to determine if gases took up space and had mass.  I thought that maybe I'd better look over the directions and make sure I knew the steps the kids would be taking.  As I read the directions, I then started wondering if maybe I should try it out first.  Usually, I wouldn't be so worried about that, but I currently have some researchers in my room looking at science and I thought it would be best if I was prepared for any popping bags.  So, the lesson plans got put aside as I did the experiment.  Well, mixing baking soda and vinegar in a baggie definitely proved that gas takes up space.  No bags popped...that was good.  I didn't want vinegar splashed all over my classroom.

Next, does it have mass?  Of course, I had already thrown away the first experiment bag, so I did the experiment again.  I got  the kitchen scale that is currently in my room to weigh the baggie.  I placed the carbon dioxide filled baggie on the scale...1/8 oz.  I squeezed all the gas out and placed it on the scale...same reading...1/8 oz.  Darn!  I needed this to work out.  Ok...I thought, let's measure in grams and see what happens.  I mixed baking soda and vinegar AGAIN (third time) and weighed the baggie AGAIN.  The scale read 42 grams.  I squeezed out the gas...the scale read 41grams.  Success!

The morning didn't go as I planned, but all in all, it all turned out ok.  Here's a video clip of the experiment.  I gave one of the groups my phone and let them record what happened when they mixed baking soda and vinegar in a baggie.  Their conversation is pretty funny.





Does Gas Take Up Space from Julie Johnson on Vimeo.

Comments

  1. Nice experiment. I love that you let students record it. And you get paid to have this much fun. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Why is it we come into to school with one plan, but a whole different plan unfolds. I enjoyed listening to the experiment. That was funny! Your researchers were quite enthusiastic, "Fire in the hole."

    ReplyDelete
  3. Their conversation was hilarious! This is science as it should be learned - hands on and FUN!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Please add to the conversation.

Popular Posts