Two fun activities in one lesson

The authors have combined two things students love to use - sensors and rockets, into a rather complicated lesson that looks at reaction rates through the use of pressure changes (as indicat... See More

The authors have combined two things students love to use - sensors and rockets, into a rather complicated lesson that looks at reaction rates through the use of pressure changes (as indicated by pressure sensors) caused by chemical reactions. Once the primary lesson is accomplised (reaction rates) this lesson could lead into a number of interesting directions. I imagine that the instructors pointed out the main variables involved in an effort to save time, but the students would experience more ownership if they came up with the factors themselves after experimentation with the cups and tablets mentioned, and then applied their own hypotheses to the pressure changes. We have also done something similar without the sensors (since we do not have access to them) but simply placing the tablet in balloons and sealing the film canister with the balloon before dropping in the tablet and indirectly measuring pressure through changes in the size of the balloon - but the pressure sensor would confirm the actual changes and the graphing component in a much more concrete manner.