Racing Cars and the History/Chemistry of Chocolate

I learned about the benefits of building race cars in the classroom as a way to teach mathematics and science.  It is particularly beneficial and relevant to the 3rd grade standards.  It was a great way to incorporate the Scientific Method, as well.

1. Ask a question.
2. Do Background Research
3. Construct a Hypothesis
4. Test your Hypothesis by doing an experiment
5. Analyze your data and draw a conclusion
6. Communicate your results

I also learned about the www.nbclearn.com website.  It has such a plethora of resources about relating everyday items to chemistry concepts.  My group developed a glogster about the History and Chemistry of Chocolate. Yuuuummm, 

Chemical Reactions Experiment

We were able to perform an interesting experiment today with baking soda, phenol red, and calcium chloride (Ca Cl).  It was such an exciting and engaging way to investigate chemical reactions.  We were able to investigate temperature change (the mixture's temperature rose to 144 degrees!), color change (white and red materials turned into a vibrant yellow), and gas creation (the ziplog bag expanded).  By changing the variables and trying different combinations, we were able to understand why these changes occurred.  The chemical reactions book we read prior to the experiment was also interesting and a nice text to aid us in our investigation.