By Dan Toomey, Edgewood Middle School, Madison, Wisconsin

I have used “A Kool Reaction from the Fine Print” JCE Classroom Activity with my 8th grade students as guided-inquiry method in order to introduce atoms. (This activity is the one that was done in the Chemistry Comes Alive! Part 4 NSDL/NSTA Web Seminar on October 15.) We began the lesson discussing why it is important to read the fine print on labels, and I passed around packages of Kool-Aid and asked students to locate any important instructions. As we discussed labels I realized that many of my students are not well versed at reading labels. There were good observations regarding the ingredients in Kool-Aid, and I asked them why it might be important not to store things in metal containers.

Student responses were varied, and I asked them what the Kool-Aid and steel wool might look like at their smallest sizes. In other words, I tried to get students to start thinking about what the Kool-Aid and steel wool were made of at the atomic scale. We launched into the activity, and as might be expected there was much joy after students observed the color change. After the activity, we discussed what was occurring at the molecular level between the substances involved, and we looked closer at iron as an element and its properties. We are beginning our chemistry unit, and will focus on the NSES and AAAS standards associated with matter. NSES: Matter is made of minute particles called atoms, and atoms are composed of even smaller components. AAAS: All matter is made up of atoms. In the 5E Learning Cycle, this activity is a great example of students engaged in the unit. As we continue to explore and engage with other activities, the class can refer back to this activity and continue to add to our understanding of elements, matter, atoms, moles, and strong and weak acids.  Who would have thought steel wool and Kool-Aid could lead to that?