Foaming Rainbow Demonstration
Dry ice is added to a basic solution of dish detergent and universal indicator. Commercially, dry ice is used as a refrigerant in the food industry. Your students may be familiar with seeing a piece of dry ice, the solid form of carbon dioxide (CO2), bubble in water to create an eerie fog. Carbon dioxide […]
Borax Snowflake
This lab activity will guarantee a snow day! Teach solutions and crystallization while making snowflake decorations for your classroom. Looking for an activity to do that will guarantee a snow day? Help your students learn about solutions and crystallization while making snowflake decorations for your classroom. Borax is the common name for sodium tetraborate decahydrate, […]
Holiday Demonstrations and Activities
As the holidays arrive, students tend to become distracted. Performing demonstrations and doing fun class activities can help keep their minds focused on important science concepts. You can create a memorable learning experience out of this festive holiday with a discussion of chemistry topics such as redox reactions, indicators, polymers, properties of matter, and phase […]
How to Make Slime
An Introduction to Polymer Chemistry Whether you want to introduce students to polymers, engage them with a fun science demo, or simply have the most popular station at your school’s science night, making slime is always a great idea. This non-toxic slime is easy to make and keeps the mess to a minimum. Turn the […]
Four Engaging Lab Activities for Spectroscopy
Help your students understand spectroscopy with these hand-on lab activities. Here are 4 engaging hands-on lab activities from Thermo Fisher Scientific that use the Spectronic® 200 Spectrophotometer to help your students understand spectroscopy. Each activity has been fully tested to ensure reliable, accurate results. Extensive background material is provided for each experimental concept, including the […]
Kool-Aid® Chromatography
Chromatography is an important technique in the chemistry lab. This activity uses a popular beverage for a safe, engaging lab experience for students of all ages. Background What makes grape-flavored Kool-Aid® purple? Food dye, of course. Color additives are common in the foods on supermarket shelves. From foods and drinks to cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and toiletries, […]
Chemoween and Other Spooky Science
Treat your ghosts and ghouls to some spirited demos and hands-on activities, and celebrate Halloween as the finale to your October science explorations. You can create a memorable learning experience out of this spooktacular holiday with a discussion of chemistry topics such as acid-base chemistry, density, indicators, polymers, properties of matter, and phase changes. Anatomy, […]
Explaining Patterns in the Periodic Table
Identifying family and period properties within the periodic table Too often, students remember for a short time certain trends and properties associated with groups and periods of elements yet come away from a study of the periodic table without really understanding or appreciating how much information the table provides. In the following activities, students discover […]
Shaving Cream and Food Coloring Chemistry
Decorate wrapping paper or eggs while illustrating scientific concepts and making real-world connections. Foam shaving cream is primarily composed of air and soap. Soap is an amphipathic substance, which means that its molecules have both a hydrophilic (water loving) and a hydrophobic (water fearing) end. Because of this, soap is able to combine with water […]
Making Ice Cream
Demonstrate the colligative property freezing-point depression and make edible ice cream at the same time. This safe, inexpensive, and engaging experiment works well for a science night, open house, kids’ group, or anywhere fun and science meet. Using table salt, reduce the temperature of a mix of ice and liquid water to below the freezing point of water. After 5 minutes, open the cup for a tasty treat.