Positive reaction

Teachers light up new unit

Hands-on+experience+%5C%5C+Mrs.+Groter+ignites+methane+on+sophomore+Jonathan+Portillo%E2%80%99s+hand.+The+lab+allowed+students+to+get+an+up+close+look+of+the+concepts+they+learned.+%E2%80%9CIt+was+amazing.+It+didn%E2%80%99t+hurt+at+all%2C%E2%80%9D+Portillo+said.+
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photo credit: Jaclene Melton
Hands-on experience \\ Mrs. Groter ignites methane on sophomore Jonathan Portillo’s hand. The lab allowed students to get an up close look of the concepts they learned. “It was amazing. It didn’t hurt at all,” Portillo said.

writer: Haley Ford, Staff Reporter
December 17, 2018

Expecting a PowerPoint and notes, students were instead greeted with a lab.

An even hotter surprise awaited.

To teach their students about different reactions and how to balance equations, chemistry teachers Mrs. Lissa Groter and Mr. Zach Neu used 10 hands-on stations.

“

I thought it was going to be scary, but it wasn’t at all. It was actually pretty fun.

— Sarah Avila, sophomore

“I was able to learn a lot more about different reactions,” sophomore Sarah Avila said.

The students weren’t expecting to be a part of the labs themselves. At station 10, a combustion reaction was taught with a twist. In a careful procedure, students’ hands were dipped in methane then ignited, starting a sometimes three-foot-tall fire ablaze in students’ hands.

“I thought it was going to be scary, but it wasn’t at all. It was actually pretty fun,” Avila said.

Students were instructed to complete 10 stations corresponding with a packet. Each station had questions about the observations, balanced formula equation, type of reaction and a few unique to the station.

“My favorite part was seeing what the reactions looked like,” Avila said.