Eighth graders in South Orangetown Middle School Science teacher Victoria Uribe’s class are studying the rate of change of a foaming chemical reaction.
Working in pairs, the scientists-in-training investigated the effect of two different brands of liquid dish soap on the rate of change of the chemical reaction. Students mixed yeast, hydrogen peroxide, soap and warm water with food coloring to produce foam, which is evidence of a chemical reaction. To measure the rate of change, students had to measure the initial height of the mixture and the final height of the foam, as well as the amount of time it took for the reaction to stop. Each pair was assigned one brand of soap so once everyone collects their data, they will share it with the class and evaluate it to see if the soap brand affects the chemical reaction’s rate of change.
Following their data collection, students had to reflect on their experiment and complete post-lab questions to explain what they felt went well during their controlled experiment, what errors they made, what they understand the rate of change to be and use the CER (claim, evidence, reasoning) method to make a final conclusion and determine whether the soap brand affects the chemical reaction’s rate of change.
