Week 15

What I learned 

This week we learned deeper about why things happen. We looked at why vinegar and baking soda react to each other the way it does. We designed a learning activity, considered why things happened, collected and analyzed data, and then described how students would use their evidence in their investigation. 

We measured the vinegar, baking soda, and zip-locked bag and measured the weight. After conducting the experiment, we concluded that the bag lost 1.2 grams because we probably couldn't close the bag quick enough, so the gas that was produced escaped. 

Our Questions were 

"What happens to the baking soda" and "What happened after the reaction."       

Relation to Prior Knowledge 

I have done this experiment many times before; I knew that when vinegar and baking soda are mixed, it forms a gas and goes through a phase change. We also could use the balloon and different objects because we had done this experiment many times in our classes before. 

Clear and Confusing 

This made us think, we understood what was happening, but it was just so hard to make kids interested and get them thinking about the conservation of matter. It was hard to thoroughly think of a lesson, but this experiment is straightforward. 

Use in the Future 

This experiment was fun and entertaining; I really liked how much this made us think. I would use this as an example and introduction to a unit on the conservation of matter and just let the students wonder about what happened. Then I would have them do it again at the end of the unit and be able to explain and analyze what is happening to the vinegar and baking soda.