Middle School Physical Science

Chemical Reactions

A color change you can make happen, and undo.

The indicator around a vial of Algae Beads changes color as carbon dioxide is used up or given off. Students record the water before and after, then decide whether a reaction happened, using the same evidence a chemist would.

Buy the Algae Beads kit Back to Middle School

MS-PS1-2 NGSS, grades 6 to 8

6.6.E Texas, grade 6

SC.8.P.9.2 Florida, grade 8

How the lab meets it

What students do that satisfies the standard

Grades 6-8

NGSS MS-PS1-2

Standard: Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.\nWhat the kit does: pH is the property. Students read it before and after the algae have worked on the water and use the change as their evidence.

Grade 6

Texas 6.6.E

Standard: Identify the formation of a new substance by using the evidence of a possible chemical change, including production of a gas, change in thermal energy, production of a precipitate, and color change.\nWhat the kit does: Color change is one of the four kinds of evidence Texas lists, and it is exactly what students record. They watch the indicator shift as carbon dioxide is used up or given off, then decide whether a new substance formed.

Grade 8

Florida SC.8.P.9.2

Standard: Differentiate between physical changes and chemical changes.\nWhat the kit does: Students use the color change as evidence that a chemical change happened in the water. Honest fit: partial. The kit gives students the chemical change. To differentiate, they need a physical change beside it, such as dissolving salt, which the teacher supplies.

Free downloads