Chemistry Chaos
- Level: Foundation/Kinder to Year 6
- Duration: 60 or 90 minutes (90 minutes recommended)
- Numbers: Maximum of 30 students per workshop
- State: VIC & NSW
- Price
60 min: $450
90 min: $560
Travel surcharge also applies based on location
Prices exclude GST
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Experience the excitement of chemistry! Watch colour changes, smoke, fizz, and foam as you explore chemical reactions, physical changes, and the science behind the world around us.
Activities | Foundation/Kinder to Year 2
- Polymer material properties demonstration including an optical illusion with disappearing polymers.
- Each student grows a polymer bead to keep.
- Small group exploration of a real-life polymer nappy piece, and how it responds to water.
- Demonstration of temporary physical change with an ocean bottle versus a powerful popping chemical change, including discussion of the new chemical made.
- Students mix baking soda and vinegar together resulting in an exciting endothermic chemical reaction.
- Students use an indicator of cabbage water to identify acids and bases through colour changes.
90 minute workshops also include these activities:
- Students mix two chemicals to form a physical change and explore density changes.
- Demonstration of dishwashing liquid as an inhibitor to slow down chemical reactions.
Activities | Year 3 to Year 6
- Polymer material properties demonstration including an optical illusion with disappearing polymers.
- Each student grows a polymer bead to keep.
- Small group exploration of a real-life polymer nappy piece, and how it responds to water.
- Demonstration of temporary physical change with an ocean bottle versus a powerful popping chemical change, including discussion of the new chemical made.
- Students mix baking soda and vinegar together resulting in an exciting endothermic chemical reaction.
- Students use an indicator of cabbage water to identify acids and bases through colour changes.
90 minute workshops also include these activities:
- Students mix two chemicals to form a physical change and explore density changes.
- Demonstration of dishwashing liquid as an inhibitor to slow down chemical reactions.
- Students place nails in copper sulfate to demonstrate a slow chemical reaction.
- Demonstration of burning different salts to identify salts by the colour of their flame.
Chemistry Chaos – Junior Version
Learning Outcomes | Prep/Kinder to Year 2
- Understand what a chemical is and recognise that everything in our world is made up of chemicals.
- Explore natural and man-made polymer chemicals, their special properties, and real-life uses of polymer materials.
- Distinguish between chemical reactions and physical changes, including identifying different reaction types such as endothermic and exothermic.
- Identify acids and bases using indicators, including cabbage water, and explore how combining acids and bases can alter pH and neutralise solutions.
- Develop essential laboratory skills including organisation, accuracy, measurement, correct use of equipment, and avoiding cross-contamination.
- Apply the scientific method and build appropriate scientific vocabulary.
Chemistry Chaos – Senior Version
Learning Outcomes | Year 3 to Year 6
- Understand what a chemical is and recognise that everything in our world is made up of chemicals.
- Explore natural and man-made polymer chemicals, their special properties, and real-life uses of polymer materials.
- Distinguish between chemical reactions and physical changes, including how to control the rate of a chemical reaction and identify different reaction types such as endothermic and exothermic.
- Identify acids and bases using indicators, including litmus paper, and explore how combining acids and bases can alter pH and neutralise solutions.
- Develop essential laboratory skills including organisation, accuracy, measurement, correct use of equipment, and avoiding cross-contamination.
Victorian Curriculum Links | Foundation to Year 2
- Objects can be made of one or more different materials; these materials have observable properties VC2S2U04
- Materials can be combined in a variety of ways for particular purposes; the properties of objects and mixtures can differ from the properties of the materials from which they are made VC2S2U05
- Materials can be changed physically by different actions without changing their material composition, including by bending, twisting, stretching, crushing, squashing and breaking into smaller pieces VC2S2U06
- Experiences can be used as a basis for posing questions to explore observed patterns and relationships, and to make predictions VC2S2I01
- Scientific questions and predictions can be investigated safely by following procedures that have sequenced steps VC2S2I02
Victorian Curriculum Links | Year 3 to Year 6
- Solids, liquids and gases have observable properties; adding or removing heat energy leads to a change of state between solids, liquids and gases VC2S4U04
- The properties of natural and made materials, including fibres, metals, glass and plastics, influence their use and re-use VC2S4U05
- Observations can be used as a basis for posing questions to identify patterns and relationships, and to predict the outcomes of investigations VC2S4I01
- The observable properties of matter (solids, liquids and gases) can be explained by modelling the motion and arrangement of their particles; mixtures (including solutions) can be formed by combining 2 or more different substances VC2S6U03
- Changes to substances may be reversible, in which case the substance may be recovered, or irreversible, in which case new substances are formed; for most substances a change of state or dissolving in water is reversible, while irreversible changes include cooking and rusting VC2S6U04
- Investigable questions and reasoned predictions can be used in guiding investigations to identify patterns and test relationships VC2S6I01
NSW Curriculum Links | Foundation to Year 2
- Identifies that objects are made of materials that have observable properties (STe-4MW-ST)
- Identifies that materials can be changed or combined (ST1-6MW-S)
- Describes how the properties of materials determine their use (ST1-7MW-T)
NSW Curriculum Links | Year 3 to Year 6
- Investigates the suitability of natural and processed materials for a range of purposes (ST2-7MW-T)
- Explains the effect of heat on the properties and behaviour of materials (ST3-6MW-S)
- Explains how the properties of materials determine their use for a range of purposes (ST3-7MW-T)
- Questions, plans and conducts scientific investigations; collects, summarises and communicates data using scientific representations (ST2-1WS-S)
Australian Curriculum Links
- Recognise that objects can be composed of different materials and describe the observable properties of those materials (AC9SFU03)
- Explore the ways people make and use observations and questions to learn about the natural world (AC9SFH01)
- Pose questions and make predictions based on experiences (AC9SFI01)
- Compare observations with predictions and others’ observations, consider fairness, and identify further questions with guidance (AC9S1I05, AC9S2I05)
- Pose questions to explore observed patterns and relationships and make predictions (AC9S3I01, AC9S4I01)
- Explain observable properties of solids, liquids and gases using particle models (AC9S5U04)
- Investigate how scientific knowledge is used to identify problems and make decisions (AC9S5H02, AC9S6H02)
- Pose investigable questions to identify patterns and test relationships (AC9S5I01, AC9S6I01)
- Examine the properties of natural and made materials and how these influence their use (AC9S4U04)
