Kitchen Chemistry - The Virtual Kitchen

The Virtual Kitchen website offers the opportunity for students to experiment with chemicals and reactions. Students are given the task of working with acids, bases, and neutrals, trying to find the similarities between each group. As students progress through the interactive activity, they must decide whether each substance produced is either an acid, base, or neutral. In order to decide this, students are given different clues, such as the color the substance turns when mixed with another substance, or the type of reaction that occurs when mixed with baking soda. It is a really neat interactive website, and it also emphasizes the importance of keeping a "lab journal". In this interactive journal, students' observations are recorded. This will help to emphasize the importance of keeping detailed records and notes when performing 'real' experiments.

Curriculum Connections:
Grade: Six
Subject: Science
Unit: Chemicals and Reactions

How Would I Use This Website?
I would use this website as a review tool at the end of the Chemicals and Reactions unit. I really love doing hands-on experiments in science, but I also think that there is a place for these virtual experiments. With this activity, I would divide students up into pairs. Each pair would complete the activities on the website. Following the completion of the activity, the pair would sign up for one of the experiments. The pair would be responsible for presenting the "real thing" to the rest of the class, and explaining what happened and why. Students would also have to model the "lab journal" that is used on the website to keep track of their trial experiments. I think this would serve as a good review tool because the interactive and hands-on experiments reach out to many different learning styles in the classroom.

Benefits for Students:
As mentioned above, this activity could be used to reach multiple learning styles, such as visual and kinaesthetic learners. I think it would be a good review tool before the end of the unit. I also think this website highlights the importance of organization, with the use of the lab journal to record all results. In addition, the attractive design and layout make this site easy to use. Finally, I think students would benefit from being able to see all of the demonstrations and work through them at their own pace. With hands-on experiments involving the whole class, it is difficult to progress at a pace that is appropriate for everyone. By using the interactive website, students can work at their own speed and really develop a better understanding of the concept.