Chemistry and floral litmus solutions

A review of fall 2022 found that Monday for this unit went long, too long. I trimmed back to just reaching tritium and helium in order to fit in the video playlist on the hydrogen bomb and Eniwetok.

A survey of the class suggested that only a few had ever had this material and those few had forgotten the details and definitions. So I proceeded rather slowly as seen above. Covered the element colors, then the atomic number, then the atomic mass and why there are decimal places

By 12:32 this was a far as I had gone, including spin in the orbital. As part of the view of the road ahead, I outlined the orbitals. 

Then I ran the video playlist that explains indirectly why tritium matters in Micronesia.

Detail view

Periodic table on the back wall

On Wednesday tropical depression TD 01W had formed south of Pohnpei with potential tracks over Pohnpei. As is the rule in physical science, when a physical science live event impinges on the classroom, that is a teachable moment. I covered what we knew about TD 01W and explained the charts and satellite images that we had seen back in unit eight on weather and climate. 

By the small hours of Thursday morning the Joint Typhoon Warning Center had issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert for TD 01 with tracks putting TD 01W directly over Pohnpei by noon Thursday as a tropical depression. At sunrise the track had shifted left, to the west of Pohnpei, pummeling Kitti hardest but then moving away from Pohnpei towards the northwest. After some communication confusion, classes were cancelled and the lab was pushed back to the next Thursday. Friday I continued the history of electricity video. 

I went ahead with astronomy in the next week as planned, but ran the chemistry lab on Thursday because that is the lab many students enjoy and that is an important experience for the elementary education instructors. I supplied all of the flowers, including a new purple orchid from the garden - a flower not usually available as it blooms rarely. Not to mention that the gardener might object to their prize orchid being plucked and boiled for science. Off island is off island. 

The Hibiscus rosa-sinensis under the Morinda citrifolia and the Hibiscus rosa-sinensis along the driveway did not work at all this term. The 8:00 section ran almost exclusively on Spathoglottis plicata. The 11:00  section include Hibiscus tiliaceus, but it was marginal for detection on weaker acids. The new orchid was superb, better than Spathoglottis. I did get a hold of three red Hibiscus rosa-sinensis blossoms for the 11:00 session and I replenished the Spathoglottis from the hill. 

This term students were not asked to bring flowers, and this worked well. Perhaps better as there was no confusion from flowers that produce no floral litmus solution.

The left board was based loosely on the layout last fall. 

The right board was also based on last fall, but I confused the class and myself when I initially laid up the color wheel in the order typically seen in CSS and color articles, which is not the native orientation for Desmos. CSS and color articles follow a compass rose orientation with zero degrees at the top of the circle and the colors then being arranged clockwise around the color wheel. Desmos, however, follows the mathematical convention of zero degrees being on the x-axis and angles being laid out counter-clockwise from the positive x-axis. The board above is after the 11:00 class wherein I sorted this out. A color wheel was laid up in Desmos to demonstrate the Desmos order, which was used in laboratory ten this term.

Ashalina evaluates an unknown

The beginning of the color wheel can be seen on the SMARTboard in the background.

Sharla looks on as Halia Jean makes a color determination

Jonathan handles the test tubes while Athina Viola records results

Ashlen with test tubes used to test the unknowns

Students often compare results with each other: confirmation of results is a part of science. Here Ashlen is considering her colors in relation to those Ashalina is getting. 

Ashalina with an acid identified

Billy identifies unknowns and Polly Melina records data

Fiji recording data with Shane

Fiji and Shane, Thevonna looking on

Ivan testing an unknown

Harvey, Jenna, and Milain engaging in clean-up

The color wheel is more fleshed out on the board in the back

This term there were fewer questions of "What color is this?" perhaps because the Spathoglottis was dominantly used and produces such sharp color changes. 

Shane develops a new mixing technique

Ozimy with an acid

The new purple orchid, species unknown

Lemon and key limes

Some of the chemicals

The shampoo is, curiously, acidic

Harvey and Milain washing test tubes

This lab went well, perhaps in part because I brought the flowers this term. Friday I had planned to return to the history of electricity, but there were too few students in the wake of TD 01W. I called off class and sent the few present home. That planned continuation will occur on this Friday after the chemistry lab.