District 228 Chemistry Lab Teaches Students Career-Based Skills

Chemistry students across Bremen High School District 228, which includes Bremen High School, Tinley Park High School, Hillcrest High School, and Oak Forest High School, are participating in their first lab of the 2021-2022 school year. As part of the lab, students are given the autonomy to choose and test their own variables.

How it works:

Students are given a magic grow capsule. Yes, similar to the ones many of us played with as children. The capsule, when added to water, will typically open up and a small animal or monster will grow.

With the capsule in hand, the students must then design their experiment and test their variable.

Students are following the Scientific Process which includes posing a question, conducting research, creating a hypothesis and writing the procedure, conducting the experiment, and collecting and analyzing data before writing the final report.

Some students have chosen the temperature of the water as their variable; hot water vs. room temperature vs. cold water. Other students have chosen the type of solution as their variable which ranges from soaking the capsule in products such as vinegar all the way to apple juice.

Geri Kizior, a Chemistry Teacher at Tinley Park High School said, "Many students haven't been able to get their hands on science in over a year. I think this experiment allows them to be creative. I basically brought in all of the supplies they requested, put it on the table, and said 'here you go!'"

Students sure did get creative! One group of students branched outside of temperature and solution. They decided to test pressure by pressing down on the capsule with a giant syringe.

Another group of students learned during their research phase that the capsules frequently get caught in children's stomachs and that the creatures sometimes grow inside. They decided to branch outside of the experiment and mimic putting the capsule inside of a stomach by shoving it down a straw.

"What's great about this experiment is that it prepares students for the rest of the year and also gives them a real-life scenario," said Pietro Sansone, Chemistry Teacher at Tinley Park High School. "When scientists have an idea or something they want to prove, they propose experiments with different variables and seek funding. If someone thinks it's a good idea and that it may lead to a profound discovery, they'll provide that funding."

Most classes across the district will conduct the lab over a week. In the first days, students will conduct research, choose their variable, and writes their procedure. After being okayed by their teacher, they will then move forward to conduct the experiment and gather data.

So far, students are discovering that hot temperatures are having the greatest impact on the capsule making it expand quickly. Nevertheless, there's still much more exploring to do and plenty of more variables to test!

Next semester, students will continue to expand their skill set and knowledge with a lab called, "The Flame Test."

In this experiment, students will receive 5-6 beakers with different solutions. They'll then soak a stick in the solutions and light it on fire. After examining the reaction, they'll then have to identify all of the solutions that have been provided to them.