Following up on the conservation of matter lesson from yesterday, students worked in groups to conduct a similar experiment to the baking soda and vinegar demonstration. Today, students were tasked with experimentally testing the law of conservation of mass by mixing known masses of vinegar and Tums (calcium carbonate), then capturing the carbon dioxide released in the experiment in a balloon placed over the flask. They were tasked with determining how much carbon dioxide is produced but the challenge was that, unlike the demonstration yesterday, they could not simply allow the carbon dioxide to escape into the atmosphere. After much trial and error, students gained practical experience working with various pieces of glassware, reagents, the digital balance, thinking through order of experimental operations, recording observations, and sharing their understanding of what was happening during the chemical reaction. We concluded with a discussion of the chemical reaction (pictured below). Students will meet tomorrow in the library computer lab to compile their findings into a lab report. Students were encouraged to take pictures or video into their investigation today and those can be incorporated into the lab report.
The Art of Science 