Summer SAVY, Session 4 Day 5, “Solving the Chemical Spill: Navigating Ecological and Chemical Systems” (5th-6th)
Dear Parents,
We were sorry to see Solving the Chemical Spill come to an end today. We thoroughly enjoyed your children this week!
We sent our chemical to the Vanderbilt lab, and they identified it as hydrochloric acid, but we used apple cider vinegar in our room just to be safe. We learned about HCl and spills, and how to be safe with the chemical. The class learned about hazardous waste clean-up and spill management.
We briefly recapped various topics we learned this week to resolve the chemical spill. The students were instructed to work on posters showing their interpretations and ideas for the resolution of the spill. Think of various stakeholders such as:
- Coleman Chemicals
- First responders
- The Friends of the Cumberland River
- State Transportation Authority
- Cumberland River Compact
- Neighbors of the area
- Waste management
- Animals
- Plants
What is a desirable solution to this Chemical Spill problem? Think of cascading consequences and all the costs. Discuss with your group how you suggest we solve the problem. What steps can we take to solve the Chemical Spill?
Then we toured one of Vanderbilt’s analytical chemistry teaching facilities with Aaron W. Daniel, Ph.D. Dr. Daniel explained a little about hydrochloric acid, and that the lab answers 2 big questions about chemical samples: “What is there?” and “How much is there?” The students learned how a sample of gold nanoparticles (which was a red liquid) may be analyzed. They had a visual demonstration of “one-in-a-million.” This was a jar of a million beads. They were various colors (and supposedly there was 1 black bead). This showed them how something so small could affect the broader ecosystem. And, he said, if any of them ever end up in his chemistry class as future Vanderbilt students to let him know!
At the end of the day, we presented our posters and resolutions. We enjoyed seeing the various ideas, perspectives, and areas that the students chose to highlight.
Dinner table questions:
- How did you resolve the spill?
- What ideas did others have?
- What did you notice in the lab?
- How will you see science in our everyday lives in the future?
We have sent home the workbook, binder, and journal. Many pages have not been completed. Some we discussed but didn’t write about. Others we didn’t cover, but you can continue to build on lessons learned in class. We enjoyed our week with your children. We hope that they keep thinking like scientists. Thank you for a fun week!
Warmly,
Ms. Elizabeth & Ms. Sharon
