In this experiment, students are if the law of conservation of mass holds true for both physical and chemical changes. Students observe two color-changing reactions, one physical and one chemical, and use scales to determine if the mass changes throughout the reaction.
Standards Alignment + Connections
MS-PS-1-5: Develop and use a model to describe how the total number of atoms does not change in a chemical reaction and thus mass is conserved.
Students will engage in a STEM challenge to design a truck powered by a chemical reaction that will have to stop within a specific drop-off zone. Teams will be challenged with various payloads to earn bonus points if they can stop in the drop-off zone.