Potions Class!

My students know that I'm a pretty big geek.  One of my goals as a teacher is to identify and draw out the inner geek in my students.  For an activity that I am doing to review a lot of the chemical reactions concepts we are going to create potions.  I Start by having them read excerpts from Harry Potter.  We then identify the things involved with making a potion that are nearly identical to creating chemical reactions.

Aftwerwards, I have them run through a series of stations that illustrate a different chemical concept.  However, since this is a potions themed lesson, I've renamed all of the chemicals to something a bit more...interesting.

 

Here's a classic vinegar and baking soda experiment.  I've changed the concentrations of the vinegar to show how the reaction rate can be controlled.  Also, the reaction is being done in a closed system (balloon) so that the "spirit" that is released can be captured.

 

Here's a reaction with luminol and hydrogen peroxide that produces light.  I tell them that they're making a firefly lure potion.

These reactants will precipitate silver, which can stick to the inside of a test tube and make it shiny.

For acid/base chemistry, they'll create a potion that can change into ALL OF THE COLORS OF THE RAINBOOOOOOOOW!!! (with a universal indicator)

Finally, they'll produce "fairy flames" from a variety of fairy samples.