This week students concluded their study of kinetics using and applying the reaction rate equation, determining reaction orders, discussing activation energy with reaction coordinate diagrams, and working with catalysts.  Students also completed an experiment involving the use of yeast as a catalyst to speed up the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide.

 

Next week we will conclude our study with a review of Chapter 15 concepts to prepare for the test which is scheduled to be taken on Tuesday, April 30.

 

We will begin the last chapter of our chemistry course covering the study of Chemical Equilibrium on Wednesday, May 1.

 

Blessings and have a great weekend!

This week students were introduced to the study of kinetics covering topics of rates of reaction and collision theory. We completed an experiment involving the chemical reaction of acetic acid (in the form of vinegar) and calcium carbonate. We ran the experiment 3 different times to observe changes in reaction rate when increasing the surface area of calcium carbonate, the temperature of the reaction, and the concentration of the acetic acid to observe changes.

 

Next week we will continue our study of kinetics with a focus on catalysts.

 

Also, as a reminder, the Chapter 14 test and lab reports will be due for submission on Monday, April 22.

 

Blessings and have a great weekend!

This week we completed our study of thermodynamics with our final experiment determining the change of entropy for a physical change; a discussion of Gibbs Free Energy and Hess’s Law; and, a review of Chapter 14 concepts. As part of our chapter review, we completed extra thermodynamics-related practice problems together in class. Students were provided a packet of additional problems with detailed explanations of solutions to help them prepare for the Chapter 14 test. They were also provided with the test guide and scoring criteria for Chapter 14 to be submitted with their test, which is due to be submitted on Mon. April 22, consistent with our Lesson Plan schedule for Chapter 14.

Next week we will begin our study of Kinetics (Chapter 15) and an experiment related to changing the rate of a chemical reaction. The Lesson Plan schedule for Chapter 15 will be provided in a separate post.

Have a blessed week!

This week we continued our study of thermodynamics. Students were provided with an overview of concepts related to this week’s lesson plans including enthalpy change and Hess’s law; activation energy, graphically tracking the energy of endothermic and exothermic reactions; and, the Second Law of Thermodynamics as it relates to entropy, the quantitative measurement of the disorder in a system. We also began our discussion of Gibbs Free Energy, which we will further explore next week. 

Next week we will conclude our study of Thermodynamics and complete the final experiment of the chapter.

Have a great week!

This week we completed our study of thermochemistry with our final experiment  of the chapter and a review of Chapter 13 concepts. As part of our review, we completed extra heat related practice problems. Students were provided a packet of additional heat related problems and solutions to help them prepare for the Chapter 13 test. They were also provided with the test guide and scoring criteria for Chapter 13 to be submitted with their test, which is due to be submitted on Wed. April 3rd. We began our study of Thermodynamics on Wednesday of this past week and completed an experiment to provide students with experience determining the change in enthalpy for a chemical reaction using our calorimeter.

We will continue our study of Thermodynamics next week. The Lesson Plan Schedule for April will be provided in a separate post.

Meanwhile, have a blessed Easter Weekend and a joyous celebration on Resurrection Sunday.

Hi, Parents and Students,

 

Unfortunately, my email address is temporarily out of order. It is not sending or receiving. The last email that I received was on March 8. I let Kati know and I am sure it will be returned to operation as soon as possible. I understand there were some system-wide issues, which occurred the week before spring break. For most, these issues were resolved but my email is still not functioning.

 

If you have any communication needs, please feel free to message me using the Oak Grove app.

 

My apologies for any inconveniences.

 

Mrs. Horenburg

 

 

 

 

This week we concluded our study of the acids and bases with a review of Chapter 11 concepts in preparation for the chapter test. We worked on several practice problems together similar to the types of problems provided on the test. I provided students with the Chapter 11 Test Guide and Scoring Criteria to be referred to while students take the test. The completed test should be submitted Wed. 2/28. This week we also began our study of oxidation-reduction (redox) reactions (Chapter 12), the type of chemical reactions that involve a transfer of electrons between two chemical species. Students were instructed on how to determine oxidation states for atoms in a compound and how to analyze a redox reaction.

Next week we will continue our study of redox reactions providing students with some hands-on experience observing changes in oxidation states as they experiment with different redox reactions.

Blessings and have a great rest of your week!