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 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.