Strand – Materials

Strand Unit – Properties and characteristics of materials

Class – 3rd – 6th

 

Lesson: – Carbon Dioxide

Prior knowledge required by the students

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a gas. It is an invisible and odourless gas. It is contained in every fizzy drink and causes a hissing noise when a fizzy drink is opened.

stage 1

Stimulus questions to engage the students and to get them interested.

What is a gas?

What is CO2 and O2?

How different is CO2 to oxygen?

How is CO2 formed?

Besides fizzy drinks what is carbon dioxide used for?

Listen to an audio clip of the children questioning each other.              

stage 2

The Experiment

Materials required – (glass, 7up, water, raisins)

Divide the class into groups of 2 – 4.

Give each group a glass full of 7up and some raisins.

Ask each group to predict what will happen when the raisins are placed in the glass.

Make sure that all of the groups predictions are recorded.

Before conducting the experiment, take a look at the following video to see how the experiment transpires.

Video – CO2

stage 3

Learning Outcomes

After the experiment, give the children the opportunity to share their ideas and findings by asking the following probing questions.

Did all the raisins bob up and down?

What caused the raisins to rise to the top?

Why did they sink to the bottom when they got to the top?

At what stage did the raisins stop moving?

Listen to an audio clip of the children’s explanations and findings          

Conclusion

See whos predictions were correct by revisiting the predictions recorded earlier and have some fun with the interactive quiz. Discuss how the children worked like scientists where they answered some research questions, planned an experiment and then carried out the experiment.

interactive quiz – match

Follow-up-activity

Weigh the raisins before and after the activity and compare the results.