Week 15 Blog
This week in lab, we explored the conservation of mass after chemical reactions. We had to develop an activity to use in our future classroom, which involved baking soda and vinegar. My partner and I initially tried this activity by measuring the mass of a balloon, vinegar, and baking soda, and then combining the two and adding a balloon on top to capture the gas. We then measured the mass again and found that the mass had gone down. We discovered that this is due to a buoyant reaction that occurred; the gas rose to fill the balloon, creating a bigger object with a different mass. We then tried our activity again, but using a bottle cap instead of the balloon, to prevent a buoyant reaction. By doing so, the mass stayed the same. This is an activity I would definitely use in my future classroom. I would begin with the flame activity, where we use the carbon dioxide created by baking soda and vinegar to put out a flame, to capture students' attention. I found this very intere...