|
|
I have taught chemistry to as young a second graders. I had a group of high achieving students in a Saturday class and they learned to determine mass, density, and did powder chemistry with sugar, salt, baking soda, sand, Plaster of Paris, corn starch (tested by looking with a magnifying glass at shape/ amorphous (no shape), reaction with iodine solution (starch turns blue black), water to see what will dissolve, pH paper, vinegar to see chemical reaction (bubbles). They make charts with the results of all of their known substances and results then they try to determine what is in an unknown or a mixture for older kids. they really like doing chemistry. You can get plastic trays to do testing in or use a sheet of overhead plastic with squares drawn on it . I also think that you could print paper and put it into plastic sleeves to use for testing.
Use flat toothpicks for spatulas and emphasize small amounts of every thing (micro chemistry)
I have used this same experiment with 3-10 th graders too. Older kids get more mixtures and it is a good thing to start out with to teach lab technique, emphasize note taking at the beginning of school.
|