Participants Will Learn About the Different Types of Polymers, Osmosis, and the Three

Polymers

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OVERVIEW

Participants will learn about the different types of polymers, osmosis, and the three states of matter.

CONCEPTS

Solids, liquids, gases, and gels. Osmosis and equilibrium. The chemical make-up of a polymer. Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic. Refraction and Translucence.

OBJECTIVES

After this lesson the students will be able to identify and explain the science behind a polymer, the three states of matter, and osmosis.

MATERIALS

·  Poly Sodium Acrylate

·  Polyacrylamide

·  Sodium Alginate

·  Cups

·  Spoons

·  Orange Juice with calcium

·  H20

·  Sodium Chloride

·  Beakers

·  Paper plates

PROCEDURES

Activity 1 Juicy Orange Jelly Things

1.  Put 2 teaspoons water in a cup

2.  Put 2 teaspoons Sodium Alginate in the cup..

3.  Mix and let sit for a few minutes.

4.  Once the solution is clear and slightly thick, add 1 teaspoon orange juice with extra calcium.

5.  Stir and pull up slightly to view the jelly.

6.  You may eat the slimy gel!

Activity 2 The Gel Crystal

1.  Fill a cup 1/3 full of water.

2.  Add 3 or 4 dry crystals to the water.

3.  It takes a few minutes to see any change.

4.  After your crystal has swelled up, remove with a spoon.

5.  Pour NaCl on your crystal.

6.  Predictions?

Activity 3 The Basic Absorber

1.  Fill a cup ¼ of the way full.

2.  Sprinkle a tiny amount of powder into the water.

3.  Watch it mix and observe the particles swelling up.

4.  Sprinkle a tiny bit more, until all water is trapped as a firm gel.

Activity 4 Break up the Gel

1.  Place some of your premade gel onto a plate.

2.  Shake a little sodium chloride onto the gel.

3.  Predictions?

4.  The sodium chloride takes the place of the water, and breaks up the gel!

BACKGROUND

Poly is a prefix meaning many. Polymers are long chains of many molecules linked together. These long chains help hold and trap liquids. The three states of matter are solid, liquid, and gas. Solids are rigid and have a definite shape and volume. Liquids have a definite volume, but no definite shape. Liquids take the shape of a container. Molecules in a liquid are not held together very tightly, and as such can easily move and flow. A gel is a mixture of a liquid, such as water, dispersed or spread out in a small amount of a solid. The solid traps the liquid so that it cannot flow like a pure liquid. Osmosis is the process of how water moves in and out of living cells. Water molecules move from places where there are many molecules, to places with less. From regions of higher concentrations, to regions with lower concentrations. This is a driving force in nature, as there has to be an equilibrium, or balance.

References

Educational Innovations, Inc.

www.teachersource.com