The 8th Grade Academy will be visiting Amherst College for the day next Friday 12/8/17. This is an exciting day for every one and students will get to visit the Beneski Museum of Natural History, the Mead Art Museum, and view a presentation at the Bassett Planetarium. Flyers with more information are going home with students today.
Student also had an opportunity to brainstorm for their Challenge Projects using some amazing text resources in the library. With the help of our wonderful librarian, Ms. Pollock, we flooded the tables with a huge variety of books to explore. This was a much richer and more valuable way to get ideas and be exposed to different topics than just trying to get started with internet-based research.
I have a BreakoutEDU kit in my classroom this year and put it to the test in class this week. These kits include re-settable locks, boxes, and other items to create learning games.
Using a modified lesson plan from the BreakoutEDU site, students were tasked to find clues to help "save the planet, before it's too late..."
I'm learning how to create better clues that help students access content, think critically and creatively, cooperate with each other, and communicate effectively. A majority of the feedback from students was positive and I hope to find more ways to bring these lessons into the classroom.
How much CO2 do different types of gases contain? The air around us, the air we exhale, the gas from the ever popular vinegar + baking soda reaction, and exhaust from my car. I tried to get exhaust from Ms. Zimmerman's Prius, but my funnel didn't fit the tailpipe properly!
We bubbled the gases through water with a pH indicator that will turn from blue to yellow in the presence of carbonic acid (created from CO2). We then determined how much of a dilute ammoina solution was needed to reverse the process and turn the indicator color back to blue.
What do you think happened?
Which gas contained the most and the least CO2?
How does CO2 from automobile exhaust influencet the greenhouse effect and our climate?
