February 2014 Photos
Fun in the Snow! February 13
Scientists at Work
Our matter unit continues with a week-long study of the Law of Conservation of Mass. In this video, the students participate in the oh-so-exciting introduction to the concept- making "magical" polymer "snow".
It's really exciting when a chemical reaction blows up our balloons for us with CO2 gas. Without the balloon to trap the gas, the system "loses" mass after the chemical reaction. However, when we closed the system (using the balloon) the mass consistently was the same before and after the reaction. The Law of Conservation of Mass - proved again! (We tried it earlier in the week when melting snow. The mass stayed the same during that physical reaction, as well.)