Teach Chemistry to kids?

casebro said:
Building blocks would be cool, even just carbon, hydrogen, oxygen. (snip) Any better nomenclature to search for?
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Search the web for 'snatoms'. Those are the magnetic molecular modeling kits by Derek Muller, from the educational Youtube channel Veritasium.
 
I always felt a few spectacular reactions performed at home (or in a garage or basement) were an important adjunct to learning the concepts behind chemistry. Chemistry kits (especially today with an enormous (and often illusionary) emphasis on avoiding potential litigation)) just don't do it for me. At least one in 5 reactions should produce a flame or a small explosion to keep the kid's interest.

When I was growing up I had a friend able to obtain sodium metal, magnesium powder, thermite, etc. I am not recommending this type of thing in general -I know of people maimed, even blinded by these types of careless experiments! But if you know what you are doing, take the correct precautions, employ proper supervision and keep the reactions very small one can produce some exciting results with only small risks. For example- igniting a very small strip of magnesium ribbon (don't stare at the flame) or a fraction of a gram of potassium nitrate plus sugar. Do at your own risk- don't come bleeding back to me!! And remember- if you must lose a finger or two, try to avoid losing a thumb- you will miss the other fingers less.

If you want to see what kind of dangers were considered acceptable for kids in the past, look at this:
https://sciencenotes.org/the-golden-book-of-chemistry-experiments-free-download-of-a-banned-book/
I definitely do not recommend most of the experiments in this book!!

If you want to read about reactions and chemicals even experienced adult chemists do not want to employ, see this blog:
http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2010/02/23/things_i_wont_work_with_dioxygen_difluoride
 
Giordano said:
I always felt a few spectacular reactions performed at home (or in a garage or basement) were an important adjunct to learning the concepts behind chemistry. Chemistry kits (especially today with an enormous (and often illusionary) emphasis on avoiding potential litigation)) just don't do it for me. At least one in 5 reactions should produce a flame or a small explosion to keep the kid's interest.

When I was growing up I had a friend able to obtain sodium metal, magnesium powder, thermite, etc. I am not recommending this type of thing in general -I know of people maimed, even blinded by these types of careless experiments! But if you know what you are doing, take the correct precautions, employ proper supervision and keep the reactions very small one can produce some exciting results with only small risks. For example- igniting a very small strip of magnesium ribbon (don't stare at the flame) or a fraction of a gram of potassium nitrate plus sugar. Do at your own risk- don't come bleeding back to me!! And remember- if you must lose a finger or two, try to avoid losing a thumb- you will miss the other fingers less.

If you want to see what kind of dangers were considered acceptable for kids in the past, look at this:
https://sciencenotes.org/the-golden-book-of-chemistry-experiments-free-download-of-a-banned-book/
I definitely do not recommend most of the experiments in this book!!

If you want to read about reactions and chemicals even experienced adult chemists do not want to employ, see this blog:
http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2010/02/23/things_i_wont_work_with_dioxygen_difluoride
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Does my heart good to see another person here promoting In the Pipeline - the blog of the inimitable Derek Lowe. Get ye hence and learn from him!!!!!
 
Note - for the best of his stuff and the most entertaining, go straight to the section Things I Won't Work With!!! You will be glad you did!!!!!!
 
fuelair said:
Ok..... To really entertain smalls (and up), Buy a head of red cabbage, rough cut or tear it up in a nice bowl. Heat to boiling a quart or two of water. Put the read cabbage into the boiling water and cook for 8-10 minutes. Remove from stove, let the solution cool until you can safely touch it with a finger. Pour the mix through a sieve (to get out the cabbage stuff) into a container. If you desire, eat the cabbage with a good corn beef. Pour the fluid in a bottle that seals pretty well. Refrigerate for longer life.

Now the fun!!! Make random solutions of things (lemon juice, milk, battery acid, soda, salt, baking soda, vinegar, aspirin, very etc.) and add a few drops of the liquid we produced. Neutral items will stay purplish-red, acids and bases will change color to different degrees. This is essentially homemade indicator solution. If not kept cold - best in small dropper bottles with dropper top- it will start stinking due to the organics in it. Very fun though and I've used it for from kindergarten to high school and random adults. So far all found it entertaining.
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Just re-read this and noticed that I implied I can read cabbage but, sadly, that is not a language in which I am proficient. I, of course, meant red cabbage.
 
fuelair said:
I would suggest making nitroglycerin, but it might give people heart attacks so I won't. I got a college chemistry book long years ago from the 1920's and it had a couple of chapters on interesting things like that from WW1 tech.
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Sodium cyanide is surprisingly easy to make in an average kitchen...
 
casebro said:
Building blocks would be cool, even just carbon, hydrogen, oxygen.

My 7 year old homeschool grandniece was asking about 'chemicals', and it seemed a good moment to explain how bonds hold molecules together. Sure wish I could remember my high school chemistry from 45 years ago.
I just ebayed a 300 page texty book, "Chemistry made simple", $4.

I often see colored balls as building blocks, linked into molecules. But no luck on ebay. Any better nomenclature to search for?

The kid will be a genius, Mommy and Daddy both lawyers. But pretty Christian. I'd like to wedge some science into the kid's lives. Four kids, this is the oldest.
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Too early for her. It won't matter.

Wait for a better time.
 
blutoski said:
Those kits you have seen are probably organic molecular modelling kits ("Molecular Model Kits" on eBay). So, worth noting, they are just for organic chemistry. I'd go for the biggest kit, so you can model just about anything.

Inorganic kits are much harder to find, but they're out there. eg: if you want to visualize the difference between hexavalent chromium versus benign chromium compounds.

I think this is a great idea, btw. My kids really did enjoy my old kits from university. Sort of like legos. Which also means they were scattered everywhere and still turn up in the vacuum twenty years later.
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Speaking of LEGO, they seem like a fairly good way to explain chemistry to a seven year old. They come in various shapes and sizes too. LEGO Technic should be especially useful.

Still, I think that teaching stereochemistry is a tad advanced for a seven year old :)

Another option is to use a few friends and siblings of his, label them carbon, oxygen and hydrogen (several of each if possible) and use them to form various bonds and whatnot. You can do alcohols, esters, ethers, carbonic acids and more. Each kid has up to four limbs, so you can go up to carbon and pretty much all organic chemistry (kids who represent oxygen are told to use hands only, kids who are hydrogen only one arm, carbons use both arms and both legs, nitrogens use both arms and one leg and so on). You'll need at least five or so kids, so you'll need to borrow them from neighbors, but it could be quite a bit of neighborhood fun.

Advanced mode: train them to form molecules corresponding to conditions you dictate, and do a live simulation of chemical reactions. A viral video is guaranteed :)

Hyper advanced mode: DNA with histones or proteins with proper folding and glycosylation, enzymatic reactions, DNA replication and translation.

This last one would be particularly cool. Anyone wants to cooperate on a project? :)

McHrozni
 
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casebro said:
Probably too complex for my assets on hand.

But I do have a dropper of iodine. Formerly used for first aid, but it acts as a starch detector for home brewing. Starch turns it blackblue, no starch it remains red, enzyme action is done.
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Do you know why ? That alone is a neat little chem/physics lesson for kids of any age.

It's not "starch" generally, but amylose (not the more common amylopectin). Amylose is a linear 1-4 linked polymer of glucose, and like most linear polymers (think DNA) it forms a helix in space. The free iodine molecules fit neatly inside the helix, and at a spacing related to the blue light wavelength.



More on topic - there are several free computer programs that you can use to 'build' and display molecular models. I've toyed with 'Avogodro' and it works well enough. I'm very impressed by the 'jmol' & RasMol' - all free.

The nice bit about the software is that you don't run out of carbons just as things get interesting, nor does the dog chew on them.








It's what those pens do to paper money, counterfeiters starch cheap paper to get the right feel. Red ink is good, no starch. You can spray starch some bills to mess with the clerks.

Baking soda and vinegar could be good too.

More fun is aluminum foil, lye, and a condom to make an explosive hydrogen balloon...nah, not for 7 year olds. Caustic, hot, and the Forbidden Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.
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