Color changing goldenrod paper has been exciting students of all ages for decades to the wonders of chemistry! Imagine the enthusiasm of the first student or teacher who spilled a few drops of ammonia on a piece of yellow paper and observed it turn bright red! One can only image them exclaiming: “Super, Wow, Neat!!!”
Place the paper in a solution of household baking soda and the paper turns red; immerse it in vinegar and the red turns back to yellow! This goldenrod paper is colored with a dye that is an acid/base indicator: red in base and yellow in acid. The paper is similar to litmus paper that is blue in base and red in acid. Read the rest of this entry »
A short time ago I received the following inquiry regarding our Heat-Sensitive Paper. One of the joys of being the president of Educational Innovations is having the opportunity to answer questions like this.
Q: What chemical coats your Heat-Sensitive Paper that makes it change color? My chemistry class wants to know the chemistry of what is happening on our heat-sensitive periodic tables. Can you please help us?
A: Some of the characteristics of our heat-sensitive periodic tables are easy to understand and some more challenging. The inks used provide color at lower temperatures and are colorless at higher temperatures. The change over temperature is called the “critical temperature.” Adding heat to the paper causes the paper to loose its color, an “endothermic” reaction. The reverse, going from colorless to colored, is an “exothermic” reaction and returns the heat.
To manufacture this paper, long rolls of white paper are unwound, coated on one side, dried, cut, and finally stacked into reams. Read the rest of this entry »
Whether teaching general science, chemistry or physics, one of the first experiments I assigned was to determine the density of a metal using a set of different sized cylinders of aluminum in a tray.
Each Student:
Determined both the mass and volume of a single assigned sample.
Recorded their data point on a large classroom Mass vs. Volume Graph.
Participated in a class discussion on: determining volume by different methods; drawing a straight line through the data points (including the origin); and calculating the slope of the line (rise over run)
Although Robert Fulton is usually remembered as the inventor of the steamboat, it was actually John Fitch who built the first successful steamboat in 1787. Unfortunately, John Fitch ran into financial difficulties which opened the door for Robert Fulton to design and test the Clermont, which was the first commercially successful steamboat, in 1807. Since that time, there have been many improvements on the initial design, but the science behind the steamboat engine is fascinating.
During my 16 years in the classroom, my students and I have accumulated a plethora of fond and one or two not-so-fond memories. One memory that still makes me cringe deals with the amount of time I spent traveling from one film-processing center to the next, in search of those perfect little containers I made such great use of within the walls of my science classroom. I’m sure you know exactly what I’m talking about…those little containers, which could be used for everything from conveniently and securely storing small amounts of solids or liquids to acting as the engine compartment of the well-known makeshift paper rocket.
What versatile things those film canisters are…
Thanks to Bob Morse of St. Albans, we have found yet another use for those mini containers. In this short segment, Bob demonstrates how to construct a simple Leyden jar that is large enough to produce a nice spark, yet small enough to be perfectly safe, and best of all, durable enough to reuse over and over again! The only materials needed are a film can, a small strip of aluminum foil, a paper clip, a small section of PVC pipe, a cloth or piece of fur to rub on the pipe and a small amount of water.
How to Build a Leyden Jar
In this age of digital cameras, 35mm film canisters are becoming a thing of the past. Educational Innovations can supply you with clean film canisters to use in your home or classroom. Check out the other activities we have for film canisters, and please feel free to share your own ideas with us.
by: Ron Perkins
Posted by Tami O'Connor 
by: Tami O’Connor
