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Hello everyone! My name is Noah Christians. I am a preservice teacher at Wartburg College and I am curious if anyone has any solutions to Chemistry Lab for online students. In our area, some parents are opting to keep their students at home and to do school remotely. I still wish to keep these students involved as much as possible so if anyone has any ideas for DIY Chemistry Labs for High School, I would greatly appreciate it!

There are companies that sell mail-order lab kits. However, some of them have experiments that I do not feel meet the safety standards for unsupervised at-home experimentation. (For example, MEL offers a magnesium-burning experiment. We also have to consider hazardous wastes generated. I'm not sure where the law sits on this, but I err on the side of caution and assume if it would be considered a hazardous waste in a traditional lab, it shouldn't be in an at-home experiment.) I have had a terrible time with shipping delays with mail-order kits through eScience Labs, though. Many kit providers are having supply chain issues due to the impacts of COVID-19 on international shipping. 

There are also a lot of examples of kitchen chemistry research available. These use materials that are readily available at an average household. However, just because it is readily available, does not mean it is safe! 

There are various hands on activities you can do with everyday materials that allow students to explore concepts such as polarity, solubility, and intermolecular forces. I've included links below with simplified procedures and suggested discussion questions. 

• Paper Chromatography
• Lava Lamp
• Marbled Paper

Thank you so much! I will look into these links and utilize them! I appreciate the response!