Chemistry Projects, Lessons, Activities (Page 18)

Marble Race – In Liquid!

STEM Activity

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Have you ever tried to squeeze honey or syrup out of a bottle at breakfast on a cold winter morning? Do you notice that it's harder to do that than on a hot summer day? As the liquid gets colder, its viscosity, or resistance to flow, increases. Viscosity is a properly of liquids that can be hugely important in wildly different applications – from how the syrup flows out of your bottle, to how blood flows through the human body, to how lava flows out of a volcano. In this project you will… Read more

More Solubility Ideas

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

A solution consists of a solute dissolved in a solvent. A solution is saturated when no additional solute will dissolve in it. Can a saturated solution of sodium chloride dissolve any Epsom salts? Can a saturated solution of Epsom salts dissolve any sodium chloride? How does solubility vary with temperature? How does solubility vary with the surface area of the solute? Design experiments to find out! (Gardner, 1999, 16-17, Stretton, 2004) Read more

Plastic Deformation: Glass Transition of Some Plastics

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Some plastics undergo an unusual transition, from a hard, glassy state to a soft, rubbery state, with increased temperature. For this project, you should do background research on the effects of temperature on different types of plastics. Make sure that you understand the difference between thermosetting and thermoplastic polymers. You should also look for information on the glass transition temperature (Tg) for different plastics. Pure polyvinyl acetate has a Tg of 28 C (about… Read more

Polymer Permeability: Which Plastic Wrap Prevents Evaporation Best?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

There are three different kinds of polymers used for kitchen plastic wrap: low density polyethylene (LDPE) (e.g., Handiwrap or Glad Wrap), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) (e.g., Reynolds PVC Foodservice Wrap or Boardwalk PVC Food Wrap Film) and polyvinylidene chloride (PVdC) (note: Saran Wrap used to be made with polyvinylidene chloride, but has switched to polyethylene. You will need to search for another brand that uses PVdC if you want to test it). Which of these materials is least permeable to… Read more

Recycling PLA Plastic using Green Chemistry

Lesson Plan Grade: 9th-12th

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Educational Goal To understand: How polylactic acid (PLA) plastic is an example of green chemistry technology particularly pollution prevention and designing safer chemicals Student Objectives Students will: Learn about renewable "corn" plastic is made from polylactic acid Recycle the polylactic acid cup into a new product: a cleaning solution Conduct a saponification reaction Analyze PLA against the 12 principles of green chemistry (Optional) Verify the contents of their… Read more

Shattering Sugar – Make Your Own Hollywood Sugar Glass

STEM Activity

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You’re watching an action movie, and suddenly the hero dives through a glass window! Or a car window shatters as the hero navigates an exciting car chase! The glass looks so real, but believe it or not, Hollywood movie sets rarely use real glass for those scenes. Can you guess what they use instead? If you guessed candy…you’re right! Instead of using real glass, which is expensive and difficult to replace for multiple shots, Hollywood movie sets use Sugar Glass! This cheap,… Read more

Springtime Science: Exploring the Pigments in Red Flowers

STEM Activity

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In the springtime it can be easy to spot flowers in a dazzling array of colors at flower gardens and in plant nurseries. And with Mother’s Day just around the corner, stunning flower bouquets are even more readily available in stores. Have you ever wondered what pigments make a flower appear a certain color to us? For example, what pigments make a rose be a deep, rich shade of red? Do different flowers use the same pigments? In this activity you’ll get… Read more

Staining Science: Making the Boldest, Brightest Tie-Dye!

STEM Activity

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Have you ever wondered about the materials that your clothes are made out of? The clothes you wear are made of fibers that come from many different sources. Some fabrics are made from natural fibers, and some from manufactured or totally synthetic fibers. In this activity, you’ll explore how well different fiber types are dyed using fiber-reactive dye. Aren’t you just dye-ing to find out which fabric works best? Read more

The Business of Fizziness: Test Your Soda Fizz!

STEM Activity

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You’ve probably seen the reaction that happens when you add Mentos candy to a diet soda. The resulting eruption is powerful enough to be dangerous, and is the source of many online videos! While many people are familiar with this reaction, few of them understand why it takes place. The Mentos + Soda reaction is not actually a chemical one, but a physical one called ‘nucleation’. In this activity we will explore nucleation in soda at a smaller scale by adding some unusual… Read more

Turn Soot into Silver

STEM Activity

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You might have heard the saying “not everything is as it seems.” Something might look great from far away, but when you take a closer look, it might not turn out to be as beautiful as you thought! In this activity, you will create the opposite experience—you will turn a spoon blackened with soot into shiny silver. Even though it is only an illusion, you will not know it when you see it. Try it out for yourself! Read more

Chemistry Projects, Lessons, Activities (187 results)

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