Da Vinci Science Center, Allentown, PA

GRADES 6-9: CHEMISTRY
PART ONE: CANDY CHEMISTRY
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Featuring guest instructors from Just Born. Students will conduct a chemistry experiment and learn how to manipulate variables, all using candy. Students will create their own moldable candy, investigate the ingredients used, and determine how each ingredient affects the final product. Students will learn about atomic structures and subatomic particles while creating atomic cookies and see why some elements are more reactive - or explosive - than others.

PART TWO: GLASS SCIENCE
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Featuring guest instructor Dr. William Heffner from Lehigh University’s International Material Institute. Students will explore the basics of glass science using home-made candy glass. Students will observe properties of glass and glassy materials, and investigate the structural differences between liquids, crystalline solids, and glasses. Students will create their own glass fibers from candy glass and experience the highly viscous and elastic state of softened glass.

PART THREE: SUGAR CHEMISTRY
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Students will investigate different types of crystalline structures and design their own formulas for creating hard candy. Students will discover how different types of sugar react when heated to high temperatures and how the crystallization process can affect the final product. Students will see how surface area can affect the reaction between sugar and a strong acid.

PART FOUR: NANOTECHNOLOGY
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Students will explore the world of nanotechnology, using everyday objects. Students will conduct experiments with hydrophobic and hydrophilic materials, and explore a process called biomimetics. Students will discover that properties
of materials change as the material gets down to the nano size and investigate current uses for nanotechnology.

PART FIVE: MATERIAL SCIENCE
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Featuring guest instructors from Polytek. Students will investigate the different properties of liquid foams, rubbers, and plastics. Students will design their own experiments and manipulate variables in order to create a stronger final product
by introducing different additives to the formula. Students will also vary the proportions of the chemicals to see the affect on the properties of the final product.

PA ASSESSMENT ANCHORS
S8.A.1.3 Identify and analyze evidence that certain variables may have caused measurable changes in natural or human-made systems.
S8.A.2.1.1 Use evidence, observations, or a variety of scales (e.g., mass, distance, volume, temperature) to describe relationships.
S8.A.2.1.3 Design a controlled experiment by specifying how the independent variables will be manipulated, how the dependent variable will be measured, and which variables will be held constant.
S8.A.2.1.5 Use evidence from investigations to clearly communicate and support conclusions.
S8.A.2.2.2 Apply appropriate measurement systems (e.g., time, mass, distance, volume, temperature) to record and interpret observations under varying conditions.
S8.C.1.1.2 Use characteristic physical or chemical properties to distinguish one substance from another (e.g., density, thermal expansion/contraction, freezing/melting points, streak test).