Now it becomes crystal clear why the unit is called Mixtures and Solutions. The fifth installment of a six-part unit explores mixtures and solutions. After viewing a demonstration on mixing pebbles with water, salt with water, and...

Scientists require specific chemical solutions for their experiments. In the seventh and final installment in a series that integrates chemistry and algebra II, scholars learn to set up a system of equations to solve the volume of a...

What a great way to explore the scientific process! Learners conduct an experiment in which they use sugar and water to illustrate the concept of solutes and solvents. With this hands on approach, they are bound to remember what they...

From solid to liquid and then back again. Young scientists  dissolve salt in water and then evaporate the water while observing what happens to the solute. They use their observations to make predictions about other solutions.

What happens when you combine 6.022 times 10 to the 23 piles of dirt into one? You make a mountain out of a mole hill. Scholars use dehydration to obtain percent composition and then calculate the molarity of the original...

How do you engage pupils in a discussion about osmosis without leaving them overwhelmed? By providing them with the tools to perform an exciting experiment, and they will see osmosis in action! Young chemists and biologists use...

Beginning biologists place a drop of food coloring into water of differing temperatures to observe the effect on the diffusion rate. They remove the shells from raw eggs and then experiment with osmosis over the remaining membranes....

Why does some ink bleed through paper, and other ink doesn't? Practice some paper chromatography to separate the colors from a pen with an interactive experiment for middle and high schoolers. Learners use a variety of solutions to track...

How can you relate colligative properties of solutions to everyday situations? Pupils first discuss the concepts of density, boiling and freezing points, then demonstrate how to accurately determine the boiling and freezing point of...

One of water's claims to fame is as the universal solvent. Young physical scientists experiment to discover which materials dissolve in this special compound. You could never be more prepared for teaching this lesson than by using this...

Here's a sweet instructional activity to explore solutes and solvents. Using candies and water, learners observe properties of parts of the solution as the candies dissolve. They then modify the setup and note variations in the...

Students investigate factors affecting the rate of solubility. In this rate of solubility lesson plan, students experiment by crushing, heating and cooling solutes and solvents to see how the solubility is affected. For each situation,...

To conclude a mini unit on the dissolving of M&Ms® candy coating, this instructional activity investigates whether or not the concentration of sugar in the solvent affects the dissolving rate. Consider having older science learners...

Fifth graders design an experiment in which they separate mixtures. In this mixtures instructional activity, 5th graders define mixtures, solutions, solutes, and solvents. They watch a video, complete worksheets, and perform an...

Avoiding lab safety rules will not give you super powers. The activity opens with a demonstration of not following safety rules. Then, young chemists practice their lab safety while finding the mass of each item in a mixture and trying...

Learners model solutions with beakers of colored glass or plastic spheres. In this solutions instructional activity, students use beakers of colored spheres to represent pure substances. They mix the spheres to demosntrate solutions....

Why are acids and bases important in our daily lives? Lead the class in answering this question, among others, as they experiment with pH paper and classify where various substances belong on the pH scale. They also taste common acids...

This lab activity is geared toward experienced chemistry learners, in particular, those who are familiar with organic chemistry. They will create a synthetic elastomer  and then make observations and measurements of its different...

Students observe molar solutions being prepared and gain an understanding of concentration. In this solutions lesson plan, students observe a solution of drink mix being prepared parallel to a solution of salt water. Students gain an...

When making sweet tea, why do people dissolve the sugar in hot tea instead of cold tea? The class discusses the previous lab and builds upon it. Working in groups, they design an experiment to determine how temperature affects the...

Explore the mathematical relationship between a solvent and solute. Learners use technology to measure the cooling patterns of a solvent with varying concentrations of solute. Through an analysis of the data, pupils realize that the...

Individuals explore solubility by modeling how water dissolves salts. They then view a video and compare how well water and alcohol dissolve salts, relating their comparisons to the structure of each molecule. 

Students design experiments examining the effects of various solutes on water. They record results on graphs explaining any unexpected consequences of their experiments and determine if their hypotheses were correct.

Can you go ice fishing in the ocean? Learners examine the freezing point of different saltwater solutions. Each solution has a different concentration of salt. By comparing the freezing points graphically, they make conclusions...