Element Project Models

The students each researched an element and had to make a model of the atom of that element. The students did a fabulous job! See the pictures below.

Tomorrow the whole student body is invited to vote on the top models. Winners will be announced soon!

Zinc & Hydrochloric Acid

Today we observed the reaction of zinc and hydrochloric acid. When these two react they give off pure hydrogen gas, which we captured in a balloon. See the pictures and videos below.

Above is a picture of zinc. The white on the zinc that you see is corrosion.

In the picture above, the zinc is in the balloon. In the beaker is hydrochloric acid. We placed the balloon on top so we don't lose any of the gas created from the reaction when we drop in the zinc.

 After the reaction.

The black particles floating on top is the corrosion from the zinc.

Pure hydrogen balloon taped to the table. The balloon would float otherwise. Hydrogen has a very low density.

Hydrochloric acid and zinc reaction video

Hydrogen balloon explosion



Separating Mixtures - Day 1

We learned different methods of separating mixtures.

The first method is sorting by hand. The students sorted a mixture of popcorn kernels, rice, and black beans.

Next the students used a magnet to separate a mixture of iron filings and pencil shavings.