Week 15 blog post

What did you learn this week? We taught 5th grade students a lesson on the conservation of matter. We used 5 major materials here today. Baking Soda, Vinegar, balloon, plastic bottle, and scale. We put equal amounts of vinegar and baking soda together and put a balloon on top of the water bottle. This combination of vinegar and baking soda caused a chemical reaction. I learned that when these two combined it leads to the production of carbon dioxide which is a gas. When this gas is produced, I learned and visually saw, that this leads to the balloon expanding significantly and growing in mass. I learned and it was a good reminder that because carbon dioxide is classified as a gas it expands it quickly!

Are you able to relate what you learned to what you already knew? Before today, I already knew that a gas is classified as having lower density meaning that the atoms will move more quickly and further apart, while breaking away from the group. To deepen my knowledge that  I already knew, today, in our experiment we looked into conservation of matter. When we combined equal amounts of baking soda and vinegar together it created the gas carbon dioxide. It was a good reminder when thinking of when certain substances mix together that it creates chemical reactions. It showed me that all experiments relate back to real world science in different ways and we need to be able to explain it to our students.

Which parts did you find clear and which were confusing? My group and I did three total experiments. By the time we got to our third experiment we quickly were able to create the gas, that caused the quick and accurate expansion. At first, we were puzzled at first into why the balloon was not forming. It then became clear to us that the amounts of each substance were not equal so we changed stuff accordingly. 

How can you apply what you've learned to your teaching in the future? Today, I once again took away that science is always easier to explain to young elementary learners like even fifth graders when we create experiments that back up other information more. This creates true deeper knowledge and understanding.

Comments

  1. Regan SandersfeldDecember 12, 2024 at 12:05 PM

    Hi Aleah! I like that you pointed out it can be much easier to explain phenomenon to students when experiments are utilized! I also wrote about that in my blog. I do wonder what ages this type of experiment would be appropriate for, though, as I would want to ensure that students are capable of understanding the reasoning behind it.

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