Case 2

Trinette Lopez (http://trinettelopez.weebly.com/blog/case-2) and Katie Badger

(http://kebadger.weebly.com/)

College Mentors for

Chemical Reactions

Kids STEM Activity

Setting

This lesson is designed for a group of approximately 20

students in grade 7. They are part of the College Mentors for
Kids program and are therefore at-risk children. These
students will travel to Purdue Universitys campus after their
school day to participate in this program, focusing on STEM
(Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Students will
arrive and go to a large classroom with several round tables,
a computer station and an overhead projector. Students will
later travel outdoors to Memorial Mall to conduct their
experiments. Each student has a mentor (a college student)
who will be working with them for the afternoon.

Overview

This lesson will introduce students to chemical reactions

through a variety of videos and experiments. Students will be
taught about the general aspects of chemical reactions and
then will be able to conduct experiments themselves.
Students should learn how and why these reactions occur
and will be evaluated orally by their buddy.

Objectives

Given an experiment, students will be able to orally explain

the chemical reactions that took place to their buddy within
two tries.

Materials

Projector

Video

For Mentos and Diet Coke Experiment (materials needed for each
child):

Half of a roll of Mentos mints

2-liter bottle of diet soda (diet or regular soda will work, but
diet soda is not as sticky)

Piece of paper

For Lava Lamp Experiment (materials needed for each child):

Procedures

Clear plastic bottle

Vegetable oil

Food coloring

Water

Alka-Seltzer (or other tablets that fizz)

1.

Show the children and their buddies the informational videos:

Bill Nye the Science Guy: Chemical Reactions,
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8mbGH6b2cg) and
Mentos and Soda Explained with Science
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLo8FExLouA), which
explain what chemical reactions are and why they occur.

2.

Summarize the main points of each video and explain how

they relate to the experiments that the children and their
buddies will be conducting.

3.

Separate the children and their buddies into two groups: one
that performs the Mentos and Diet Coke experiment, and
one that performs the Lava Lamp experiment.

4.

In the Mentos and Coke Experiment, the children and their

buddies will learn about the chemical reactions that occur
when they add one reactive substance to another. In this

case, they will be observing the results of adding Mentos to

Diet Coke.
5.

The children and their buddies should move outside for this
experiment, as it will be extremely messy.

6.

Once outside, each child should take their bottle of Diet

Coke and stand it in an upright position.

7.

Afterwards, the children should shape the paper into a funnel

so they can drop the Mentos in the bottle at the same time
(half a pack is a good amount).

8.

Children will then have their buddies hold the funnel to

steady it as they drop the Mentos down into it and into the
bottle.

9.

Both the children and their buddies should get out of the way
quickly so as not to get splashed by the geyser of soda.
Afterwards, the children should observe what occurred when
the Mentos were dropped into the soda and orally explain to
their buddies what chemical reactions they believe took
place.

10.

In the Lava Lamp experiment, the children and their buddies

will learn about how some chemical substances can be
mixed together and others cannot by making their own lava
lamps from vegetable oil, water, and food coloring.

11.

The children and their buddies should find an area with a

surface that will not be damaged by the oils or can be wiped
clean.

12.

They should then fill the plastic bottle full with vegetable
oil. Buddies can help with measuring out the correct amount.

13.

Afterwards, they should add water to the neck of the bottle,

leaving a little space between the water line and the top of
the container (they can always add more water at a later
time). Buddies can help with deciding on accurate
measurements.

14.

The children should decide on a color for their lava lamps

and select food coloring accordingly.

15.

The children should then add 10 or more drops of food

coloring into the bottle until a rich color is seen.

16.

Afterwards, the children should break the Alka-Seltzer tablet

into smaller pieces (6 to 8). Buddies can help with this step if
needed. Add one piece at a time and observe each reaction.

17.

When the bubbling stops, they should replace the bottle cap.

18.

Finally, the children should tip, twist, and shake the bottle
back and forth and observe what takes place.

19.

Have the students discuss what happened with their buddies

and orally explain which types of chemical reactions they
believe had occurred.

Evaluation

Use the following three-point rubric to evaluate students work. Each

individuals buddy/mentor will evaluate their student because they
know them more individually.

Three points: Student orally explained the chemical

reactions that took place in their experiments without error to
their buddy; little to no buddy guidance needed. Was able to
actively participate and cooperate with their buddy.

Two points: Student orally explained the chemical

reactions that took place in their experiments without
difficulty to their buddy but had some errors; some buddy
guidance needed. Minimally participated and cooperated
with their buddy.

One point: Student had difficulty orally explaining the

chemical reactions that took place in their experiments to
their buddy and had many errors; student needed a lot of
guidance from their buddy. Did not actively participate or
cooperate with their buddy.

Standards

Indianas Academic Standards for Science - 2010

The Nature of Science

Make predictions and develop testable questions

based on research and prior knowledge.

Plan and carry out investigation - often over a period

of several class lessons - as a class, in small groups
or independently.

Collect quantitative data with appropriate tools or

technologies and use appropriate units to label
numerical data.

Use the principles of accuracy and precision when

making measurements.

Evaluate possible causes for differing results.

Compare the results of an experiment with the

prediction.

Communicate findings through oral and written

reports by using graphs, charts, maps and models.

The Design Process

Identify a need or problem to be solved

Brainstorm potential solutions

Select the most appropriate materials to develop a

solution that will meet the need

Evaluate and test the design

Redesign to improve the solution based on how well

the solution meets the need

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Integrate quantitative information expressed in words

in a text with a version of that information expressed
visually(6-8.RS.7)

Distinguish among facts, reasoned judgment based

on research findings and speculation in a text (68.RS.8)

Research to Build and Present Knowledge

Conduct short research projects to answer a

question, drawing on several sources and generating
additional related, focused questions that allow for

multiple avenues of exploration (6-8.WS.7)

Gather relevant information from multiple print and

digital sources, using search terms effectively;
assess the credibility and accuracy of each source;
and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of
others while avoiding plagiarism and following a
standard format for citation (6-8.WS.8)

Draw evidence from informational texts to support

analysis, reflection, and research (6-8.WS.9)

Technology

References

High level of technology available

Internet access

Projector for video

White board

Standards : http://www.iste.org/standards/standards-for-teachers

Bybee, R. What Is STEM Education? Science, 329(5995),

996-996.

This article explains that the United States should emphasize

the importance of STEM in its curriculum and make the teaching of

STEM a more widespread movement. It looks into the components
of STEM that are typically taught in schools, and discusses the
negative consequences of leaving out engineering and technologytwo components that are often forgotten about. According to the
article, students who are not taught to use technology early on will
not be prepared to thrive in the increasingly digital world. With this in
mind, we worked to make sure that the lesson plan included both
aspects of technology (Mindmup) and engineering (students worked
with their buddies to build their own lava lamps from scratch). We
also included science (the experiments themselves) and math
(measuring out substances for the experiments). Ultimately, we
worked to ensure that our plan included all four areas of STEM.

Jolly, Anne. "Six Characteristics of a Great STEM Lesson."

Education Week Teacher. N.p., 17 June 2014. Web. 09 Nov.
2014.

This article identifies the six main characteristics that are necessary
for creating a lesson plan that truly presents the ideas of STEM.
STEM is identified as science, technology, engineering and
mathematics. In general, a STEM lesson plan may require different
approaches to teaching because they are focused on a different
aspect that is not generally taught in other areas. In this article, it
mentions how STEM lessons focus on real-world issues and
problems. This definitely affected how we developed this plan
because we wanted it to relate to real-world issues especially
considering the program that this was a part of and how we had
previously discussed how this lesson could affect not only the
students and buddies, but also the community and future employers.
By having them create a lava lamp with common household items
focuses on how it possible to create or better yet recreate without

spending money or creating excessive waste. Another important

aspect stressed in this article was involving students in productive
teamwork. We incorporated this into our lesson by having the
student work with their buddy as a team. STEM lessons allow for
multiple right answers and reframe failure as a necessary part of
learning. By conducting these experiments and evaluating the
student based on oral explanation will really help determine if they
understand the material as well as allow them room for multiple right
answers through explanation.