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Hello to all,
I am a new teacher, teaching middle school science and I do not have a lab room, just a typical classroom. My class does not have water or storage (no science class do). Can someone give me some suggestions on how I can do labs without these things and be in compliance with regulations? Example of lesson chemical reactions, etc
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Hi Cassandra,
You can still do labs, but have to be very careful the types of labs you choose. I would also recommend you do your labs in microscale and make sure that they are green. Describe your room layout....do you have tables or only student desks? How many students do you normally have during a period? Do you have access to water near your room? How close is the bathroom to your classroom?
You also might check out the following threadsChemistry Games, Animations, and Simulations and Low Cost Labs. These threads mention several ideas for middle school labs.
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The room has tables, between 26-30 students per period, and the restroom is close by (a few feet away). What do you mean by green?
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Hi Cassandra,
Green labs are labs that do not use harmful chemicals (i.e.: they are "good" for the environment. There is actually more to it than that, but to simplify things we'll just use that definition. Not all of the labs you may want to use will be considered green. Those labs I would encourage you to do in microscale which means that your students use very small amounts (around 1 mL) of the chemicals and observe the reactions. Another older term used instead of microscale is "armchair" chemistry.
First, you need to find the labs you want to use. American Chemistry Society has a great set of [url=http://www.middleschoolchemistry.com/]lessons[/url] for the middle school classroom that may give you some ideas. You could also do a keyword search the Learning Center and apply the middle school filter so you only see resources intended for your age level.
Once you have found the labs you want to use, you now can think of how you can set up your room so that your students can perform labs in a safe environment. One of the most important pieces of equipment you will need is [b][u]safety goggles[/u][/b] for your students. Each of your students need a pair while performing labs. Do your students have lockers? (If so, they can store the goggles in their lockers.) Put your students into lab groups of 3 to 4. Each table at which your students sit would be considered a lab station. Assign lab roles so you do not have students wandering around the room. You do not have lab drawers, but what you could do is set up "portable" lab drawers (lab kit) using plastic shoe storage containers. These could be stored on a countertop, in the corner, a closet, etc. You should have one for each lab station. If you do not want students to have their own goggles, then you could just have a set in the lab kit. Goggles can be cleaned between uses with eye glass cleaner. Some other equipment that should be in this kit would be items like test tubes, stirring rod, eye droppers...you get the idea. Depending on the lab, you can change the equipment as necessary. You should have a checklist with each kit so that students know the equipment that should be in the kit. So that managing these kits does not become a time-consuming nightmare for you, you will need to have your students clean their own goggles and equipment. (If you do not have access to lab equipment, write back and we can do some brainstorming.)
This leads me to next item of consideration which is cleanup. Decide where you are going to have your clean-up station. Get three small plastic wash tubs. Fill one with soapy water and one with rinse water. The third water tub is for chemical waste. Students should dump their chemical waste in the empty wash tub. They should wash their own dishes and return them to the lab kit. When the chemical waste tub get full, you dump it down the toilet and flush it. (This is why you need to use "green" labs.) When you have a break between students you can also dispose of the wash and rinse water down the toilet. Students can be sent to the nearby bathroom to wash their hands. Just do not sent them all at once.
All in all, you do not have an ideal situation. However, with some creativity on your part, you can have your students do some simple labs. Let me know what you think.
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I may be in a similar situation this year, and really found your solutions quite helpful! Thank you very much for your thorough response to the initial question. It was helpful and I appreciate your suggestions!
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Several years ago, I was responsible for setting up lessons and labs for pregnant students who were not attending class. I had to travel to student's home and all work had to be done in a kitchen. I found AlkaSelzer very useful
http://alkaseltzer.com/as/student_experiment.html
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Thank you so much for this question. I am a new chem teacher and I am in the same situation, except I do have a sink. What about demos? Is this still considered within regulation if the teacher does them?
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Check into Friendly Chemistry - lots of very useful, kid-friendly, environment friendly labs. Here's the link: www.friendlychemistry.com
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Without starting a new thread....any good ideas for gas laws? We are having the kids build hot air balloons and doing the standard eudiometer, crushing can, balloon in the freezer lab...but looking for more ideas!!
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Have you ever tried a miniature marshmallow inside a 50 cc syringe? Or better yet, is a marshmallow peep inside a bell jar! The marshmallow inside the syringe works well, repeatedly with the same marshmallow, but the peep can only go 1-2 times before, I guess, the elasticity is overwhelmed. You don't need a 50 cc syringe, smaller will work. Just have the kids remove the plunger, drop in the marshmallow, replace the plunger. Then, by holding a finger over the needle hole, have them compress and depress the plunger. With the peep, we just enjoyed watching it become a mammoth peep upon decrease in pressure and then become a deflated peep once pressures returned to room pressure. Of course, marshmallows work here equally as well. We also placed some bubble wrap inside the bell jar - pretty interesting, too. Or how about the egg sucking lab?
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Joey,
I used peeps last year in my bell jar. My students thought it was great. We did the demo two days in a row because I had several gone.
Chris,
I have attached a collection I put together for my own use. You can also use Phet simulations. Look here for a list of all that apply to gas laws.
Gas Laws Collection
(10 items)
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Adah,
That sounds great. I was speaking with a colleague today and we came up with an idea of how we could model temperature and pressure as well. Since objects at a higher temperature move faster, we could have the kids move faster. So we said the first time, they have to put their foot down, say 1000-1, 1000-2, and then they can move their foot. The second time we allow them to walk at a normal pace. And see how the number of collisions change.
Thanks for all the resources!
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