Keep the camera rolling

After making a number of videos with Matthew I have noticed that the best stuff often happens once my planned experiment is over. Normally this is once I've stopped filming and have started cleaning up. This is the time when Matthew really starts to investigate things by himself. I am now careful not to stop the 'experiment' too early. Its fascinating the things that he picks up.

I've noticed a similar thing happening when I do science shows. While I'm packing up a few kids come up and starts really looking, touching and learning. Recently I intentionally took advantage of this and after the main 'show' I set up some workstations where the students got to carry out the experiments by themselves. This definitely was the highlight and the students absolutely loved the chance to experience the science hands on by themselves.

I'm keen to keep thinking about ways to encourage hands on exploring of science. Would love to hear any ideas you may have.
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Comments

Dry ice and pH

I have to admit that the colour change was not a pronounced as I was hoping for with carbon dioxide dissolving to form carbonic acid. In the past I have used other pH indicators which give a much bigger colour change. This is due to the relative high pKa of carbonic acid ~ 6 in contrast to acetic acid in vinegar (pKa ~ 4). I’m keen to repeat this using a different indicator and possibly just blowing into a solution using exhaled carbon dioxide to change the pH. This is a very important demonstration as it simply shows the effect that our carbon dioxide emissions have on the pH of the ocean. Acidification of the oceans is a topic that has not really been raised in the climate change debate but a very serious problem that is looming...

pH in the kitchen

We extended our learning about acids and bases to the pH scale. I intentionally did not over edit the video video because it really shows the learning process so the video is longer than normal. By the end of the video Matthew was better at matching the pH paper against the pH chart than I was. Matthew also introduced the video with out any prompting from me - he's picking it up quickly. Again using the A, B and N tabs really seems to have helped provide a framework for learning. Make sure you watch till the end. Matthew spontaneously started writing down all that we had been going through. It was almost like he was writing up his lab book. I could learn some lessons from him!!

Reflections of a chemical dad

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