Gas Laws Guide
Subject: Chemistry
This set of activities enables students to investigate what causes pressure, how it is measured, and how it is affected by its own properties and the properties of its container. Students are encouraged to understand how the principles and effects of pressure are generated from specific interactions between many particles.
Recommended Sequence
Since the activities increase in complexity from the first simple models and user interface introductions to the later activities requiring integrated models and sophisticated reasoning skills, we strongly recommend that learners complete the core activities in sequence.
In addition to the activities, there is one survey, a pre-test, a post-test, and embedded assessment pieces that enable the MAC project to evaluate students' progress and draw conclusions about the effectiveness of the activities.
Please make sure to administer the Pre-Test before the core activities and the Post-Test after the core activities. They are an essential part of this research project.
Connected Chemistry Sequence
1) Modeling a Tire
2) Changing Pressure
3) Experimenting with Particles
4) Number and Pressure
5) Temperature and Pressure
6) Volume and Pressure
7) The Ideal Gas Law
Activities
- Modeling a Tire - This activity enables students to investigate what happens inside a bike tire.
- Changing Pressure - This activity enables students to investigate what pressure is and how it is measured in the computer model.
- Experimenting with Particles - This activity enables students to design their own experiments related to the study of gas particle behavior in a container.
- Number and Pressure - This activity enables students to investigate the quantitative relationship between particle number and pressure.
- Temperature and Pressure - This activity enables students to investigate the quantitative relationship between temperature and pressure.
- Volume and Pressure - This activity enables students to investigate the quantitative relationship between volume and pressure.
- The Ideal Gas Law - This activity poses some exciting challenges for students to apply their growing literacy of exploring models and the content domain.