Week 15
What did you learn this week? This week, I learned that during a chemical reaction, the total amount of matter remains the same before and after the reaction takes place. To help explain this to a 5th grader, we conducted an experiment where we weighed baking soda, vinegar, and a bottle separately. Then, we combined the baking soda and vinegar inside the bottle and waited 30 seconds before weighing everything again. Even though a chemical reaction occurred, the total weight remained the same. This demonstrated the concept of the conservation of matter —matter cannot be created or destroyed, only changed. How can you apply what you've learned to your teaching in the future? I can definitely use this experiment in my future classroom to make science more hands-on and engaging. Students can use a scale to weigh baking soda and vinegar separately, and then mix them while the bottle remains on the scale. Before starting, I would ask them to make predictions—will the weight increase,...