Seventh Grade Science Students Build Then Eat Molecules

Submitted by david.thacker on
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Teachers at Spanish Fork Junior High know that engagement leads to discovery and learning.  That’s why seventh-grade science teacher Emily Goates gets creative when she teaches her students how elements bond together to form molecules.  Give her a few hundred toothpicks and big bags of multi-colored mini-marshmallows, and her students will know the difference between H2O and CH4 in no time.

“Students were excited to make edible models of molecules today!”  Ms. Goats reported this afternoon.  Then she explained how students make connections.

“Each color of marshmallow represented a different type of atom.  Students used the molecular formulas of common molecules like water (H2O), methane--a gas found in farts-- (CH4), and stomach acid (HCl).”

Judging from the pictures, students were very engaged as they built—and snacked—on their models.  Good work!

Attributions
by Rillene Nielsen and Emily Goates