Advanced Chemistry runs a Nuclear Reactor!!!

nuclear simulator game

 

Advanced Chemistry students ran a simulated nuclear reactor after learning about the events of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl.  They tried to keep the reactor running without melting down while maintaining a power output of at least 1000 kW.

 

 

5th hour Logan McDaniel won a smarty pants for his class, running the reactor for 259 days with an average output of 1256 kW.  Next was Bryce Markins with 232 days at 1246 kW.  Finally, John John Underwood had 159 days at 1037 kW.  Many students had difficulty keeping their power above the average 1000 kW which caused blackouts in their city.  Still others could not control their reactions and overheated, experienced a meltdown, and had to evacuate their town!!!!

 

 

 

Mrs. Lau's 7th Graders visit PCHS Lab!!!

CARTESIAN DIVER LAB!!!

 

Winning CARTESIAN DIVERS:  Karson (overall winner), Devyn, and Caitlyn

 

 

Chemistry Club students recently helped Mrs. Lau's 7th graders create Cartesian Divers that would sink and float to the top of a water-filled pop bottle when you squeeze the bottle. The concept demonstrate Boyle's Gas Law where increasing the pressure on a gas lowers its volume. It also shows how density affects the diver's bouyancy. Amazingly, you can use a Heinz ketchup packet as a diver as well! Here are the winners of the diver races and some pics of students making them in lab.

 

 

Jazzy Bennett and Chi Chi Whitacre help Brandon Shockley make a diver...

 

Mary-Hunter Smittkamp works with Zach and Dakota

 

 

 MorganWorrell and Kelsey Chambers perfect their divers....

 

 

Sarah Cochran works with Katie Smith before racing her diver!

 



 

Junior Logan McDaniel works with his diver team.

 



 

 

Tucker Marrs, Parker, and Garrett Clark team up with PCHS Chemistsry Club members Aleah Smith and Madeline Wilson.....

 

 

Mr. Pitcher and Mrs. Brading bring their 4th graders to work with PCHS Chemistry Club students....

Mr. Pitcher and Mrs. Brading brought their 4^th hour classes over to watch and participate in several electrostatic and electronic activities.  They had just completed a unit on static electricity and circuits and the labs and demos help to reinforce those lessons.

 

Allison Hall has a hair-raising experience!

 



Cheyenne Miller shows off her static electricity!

Conner Land helps Ian Crouch, Colby Kindred, and Cole Myers set up circuits while Mrs. Brading looks on.....

 

Kagney Kingery sets up a simple circuit.

Mikela Washburn watches over Logan Rhoads and Tamya Hudson.

 



Payton Block entertains the class as she touches the VandeGraff machine!

Neila Volkman shows off her electrostatic skills!

Science Club visits Crestwood School!

Mrs. Block's Advanced Chemistry classes travelled with Mrs. Wilson's Biotechnology and Anatomy students to Crestwood School last week to work with 5th graders just finishing a Genetics Unit.  Three classrooms were set up involving three activities as the 55 young scientists rotated through. The PCHS high school students worked one-on-one in a strawberry DNA extraction lab, a fingerprint analysis activity, and the creation of an imaginary creature using chromosomes.

 

Aaron Garver develops fingerprinting with a Crestwood student.

 

Hudson and Trystan extract DNA from strawberries.

 



Students are assigned chromosomes to create a "reebop" creature.

 



Students learn the difference between phenotype and genotype.

 



 

Katie Korte and Pia Twigg begin the DNA extraction process.

 



Kahrissa Higginbotham explains the loop, arch, and whorl or fingerprinting.

 

More Reebops!

 



 

Mitchell extracts the strawberry DNA.

 

Three-Layer Density Column Lab

CONGRATULATIONS to:Christen Swan of 7th hour had the winning column!

 

 

Chemistry I class created a three-layer density column in a test tube past week using water, food coloring, and/or sugar and salt.  They learned how to manipulate the density of each layer by changing the mass, volume, or temperature of each solution.  Of the 80 columns created, winners were picked to represent each hour and an overall winner was crowned!  Here are some of the runners-up:

 

 

 

3rd hour:  winner Brianna Blair with Kaitlin Neibarger and Samantha Abshier

6th hour:  winner Jake Meister with Janessa Watson and Lauren Swinford

7th hour:  OVERALLWINNER Christen Swan with Payton Stewart

8th hour:  winner Josy Sudduth with Alejandro Torres and Libby Lawson

 

 

3rd Hour Chemistry I Smarty Pants Class

During the semester, Chemistry I classes compete with one another for smarty pants points.  If they score the highest average on a quiz or test, or perform well in lab, or complete a challenge that I give them, they earn a smarty pants.  The class with the most smarty pants by the end of the semester wins a party and a perfect score on their semester review packet even if they don't do any of it!  This year's winner was third hour.

3rd hour - 9 smarty pants
6th hour - 2 smarty pants
7th hour - 2 smarty pants
8th hour - 3 smarty pants

3rd hour students Lea DeBoer and Kaitlin Block made an oreo cookie tower and snowman sculpture for a smarty pants challenge while 8th hour student Collin Sherer also made an oreo tower sculpture.

 

 

7th hour won a smarty pants for the best density column (Christen Swan).

Energy Of Foods Lab

 

Kaitlin Block and Brianna Blair burn a cheeto.

 

 

Kaleb Smith and John Vice team up in lab.

 

Chemistry I students looked at how much energy a glucose molecule (represented by a marshmallow) and a linoleic acid molecule (represented by a fatty chip and cheeto) take to both form and burn.  Students used WebMO, a virtual molecular chemistry program phs_block_3 password:students, to draw both molecules and discover that it takes glucose more energy to form than the fat linoleic acid due to the more complex carbon-oxygen bonds that it possesses.  In the wet lab, students then burned these foods to discover that more energy is released by fats than sugars.  Below are some pictures of the calorimeter devices the students used to measure the heat released.

 

collecting data in a calorimeter can.....