Essential Chemistry Teacher Lab Manual
The following list of inquiry-based labs are from PASCO's Essential Chemistry Teacher Lab Manual. You may preview and download editable student handouts, Google Slides, and the complete student lab manual. Teacher resource files can be accessed by signing into a PASCO account or by creating a new account. Individual materials lists are included within each student handout, and a complete materials list is provided below.
Grade Level: High School
Subject: Chemistry
Student Collection Files
| Materials and Equipment List | 310.92 KB | |
| Student Lab Manual Intro | 801.16 KB |
Teacher Collection Files
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Activities
01B) Investigating the Temperature Scale
Students use a temperature sensor to discover the relationship between the Fahrenheit and Celsius temperature scales.
02A) Density of a Solid
Students design an experiment to determine the volume of an object with an irregular shape.
03A) Chemical Formula
Students use the Molecular Model Set to explore representations of matter at the particle level.
03B) Pure Substances and Mixtures
How can the physical characteristics of a mixture be used to separate individual, pure substances?
03C) Physical or Chemical Change
Students use a pH Sensor, a Conductivity Sensor, and a Temperature Sensor to collect evidence that supports their conclusion about whether a chemical or physical change has occurred.
04A) Temperature and Thermal Energy
Students use a temperature sensor to help them understand how energy flows between a system and its surroundings, and the difference between the total thermal energy in a sample and its temperature.
04B) Specific Heat
Students use a temperature sensor to experimentally determine the identity of a metal based on its specific heat capacity.
04C) Energy from Food
Students use a temperature sensor to study the difference between food Calories and the calorie unit, and observe how different food samples provide a different energy per gram ratio.
04D) Heat of Fusion
Students use a temperature sensor to describe the flow of energy through a system during a phase change.
04E) Project: Design an Insulator
Students must engineer an insulated container to minimize heat loss according to a set of design and performance constraints; a temperature sensor is used to assess insulator performance.
04F) Research Presentation: Insulators in the Home
Students research and write about the health effects of insulation materials used in the home.
05A) Patterns and Trends
Students study PASCO’s Periodic Trend Cards to find patterns that help them reconstruct the periodic table.
05B) Naming Ionic Compounds
Students perform a series of chemical reactions and name the precipitate formed in each.
05C) Store Labels and Model Building
Students use the Molecular Model Set to build models of ingredients found on labels of household items.
06A) Counting by Weighing
Students use the mole concept to estimate the mass and volume of one mole of beans based on a small sample of beans.
06B) Molar Mass
Students use the Molecular Model Set to build models of compounds and determine the molar mass; students determine the moles of chalk used to write their name to connect mass with the amount of particles in one mole.
06C) Percent Composition of a Hydrate
Students determine the formula of a hydrate sample based on the mass lost when the sample is dehydrated.
06D) Empirical Formula of Magnesium Oxide
Students add enough heat to a sample of magnesium to produce magnesium oxide, then analyze the product to determine its empirical formula.
07A) Balancing Chemical Equations
Students use the Molecular Model Set to model the law of conservation of matter during chemical reactions.
07B) Chemical Reactions
Students predict products of a series of chemical reactions and use a temperature, conductivity, and pH sensor to verify a chemical change.
07C) Solubility Rules
Students look for patterns to experimentally determine the solubility rules for a set of solutions.
08A) Conservation of Mass
Students experimentally determine the amount of sodium bicarbonate in an antacid tablet based on the mass of carbon dioxide formed when the tablet reacts in water.
08B) Percent Yield
Students analyze a precipitate product to determine the percent yield of a reaction.
08C) Modeling Limiting Reactants
Students use the Molecular Model Set to simulate reaction scenarios where there are limiting and excess reactants, and ideal reactions where all reactants are consumed.
08D) Determining Limiting Reactants
Students use a Pressure Sensor to experimentally determine the limiting and excess reactant when the amount of one reactant is varied and analyze data to reveal the coefficients in the balanced reaction.
08E) Project: Design an Airbag
Students must engineer an airbag that inflates and uses materials according to a set of design and performance constraints; a temperature and pressure sensor are used to assess airbag performance.
08F) Research Enhancement: Airbags and Consumers
Students research and write about the chemistry and function of airbags used as either wearable protection or as part of a vehicle safety system.
09A) Isotopic Composition
Students work with model “element samples” to learn the characteristics of isotopes.
09B) What is a Wave
Students model the relationship between wave frequency and wavelength by observing waves with different amounts of energy.
09C) Light Energy
Students use different colored LEDs to determine which frequency of light transfers the most energy to a glow-in-the-dark object.
10A) Types of Bonding
Students use a Conductivity Sensor to predict the type(s) of bonding between atoms in solutions made with different substances.
10B) Lewis structures and VSEPR
Students use the Molecular Model Set to study the relationship between the bonding capacity of individual atoms and 3D molecular structure.
10C) Surface Tension
Students apply their understanding of intermolecular forces to explain observations of different water phenomena.
11A) Evaporative Cooling
Students use a temperature sensor to determine the evaporation rates of different compounds and use the Molecular Model Set to help relate differences in rates to molecular composition and intermolecular forces.
11B) State Changes
Students predict the shape of a phase change diagram for water when it moves from the solid to liquid to gas phase, then use a temperature sensor to construct a phase change diagram supported with data.
11C) Hess's Law
Students use a temperature sensor to experimentally determine the heat of reaction for the formation of a compound.
12A) Volume of a Gas
Students use a Pressure Sensor to quantify a visible pressure-volume relationship in a sample of matter.
12B) Boyle's Law
Students use a pressure sensor to experimentally determine a mathematic expression of Boyle’s law.
12C) Charles' Law
Students use a temperature sensor to experimentally determine the relationship between the temperature and volume of a gas.
13A) Electrolytes
Students use a Conductivity Sensor to distinguish an electrolyte from a non-electrolyte, and create a calibration curve to estimate the concentration of electrolytes in a sports drink.
13B) Solution Concentration
Students use a colorimeter to construct a calibration curve of known solution concentrations and determine the unknown concentration of a solution (Beer’s law).
13C) Colored Solutions
Students use a colorimeter to develop an understanding of how different wavelengths of light interact with particles of a colored solution to produce the solution color seen.
13D) Project: Design a Purification Process
Students must engineer a system to purify water that contains macroscopic and microscopic contaminants and evaluate the effectiveness of their design using a condenser, turbidity sensor, conductivity sensor, and qualitative observations.
13E) Research Enhancement: Water Purification
Students research, discuss, and write about a local water pollution issue.
14A) Optimum Conditions
Students use a pressure and temperature sensor to observe the effect of changing various experimental conditions on the rate of a chemical reaction.
14B) Catalysts
Students compare the rate of hydrogen peroxide decomposition using a variety of catalysts and catalyst sources.
15A) Equilibrium Reactions
Students model an equilibrium reaction at the particle level as well as the visible level.
15B) Le Chatelier's Principle
Students observe the effects on a reversible reaction at equilibrium when the concentration or temperature is changed.
16A) What is pH?
Students use a pH sensor to test the pH of a set of serial dilutions and make a connection between the pH value (& pOH) of a solution and its hydrogen ion (& hydroxide ion) concentration.
16B) Titration of an Unknown Acid
Students use a pH sensor to conduct a strong acid and weak acid titration with a strong base.
16C) Antacids: An Inquiry Study
Students use a pH sensor to investigate how antacid tablets work and use a back titration method to determine how much of the active ingredient is found in one tablet.
17A) Vitamin C Titration
Students use a redox titration to determine the amount of vitamin C in an unknown food sample.
18A) Electrochemical Cells
Students use a voltage sensor to discover the function of the components of an electrochemical cell.
18C) Lemon Battery
Students use a voltage sensor to measure voltage produced by a lemon battery with copper and zinc electrodes, then use their data to design a lemon battery that produces enough voltage to light an LED.
18D) Project: Design a Galvanic Cell
Students use a voltage sensor and a variety of supplies to design a galvanic cell that can light LED bulbs in series or in parallel.
18E) Research Enhancement: Galvanic Cells
Students research, discuss, and write about the pros and cons of moving towards homes and cars fully powered by rechargeable batteries.
19A) Half-Lives
Students model radioactive decay to determine the half-life of a “radioactive” sample.
20A) Bonding and Organic Chemistry
Students use the Molecular Model Set to explore the variety of bonding configurations possible by a carbon atom.
20B) Distilling Aromatic Compounds
Students use a condenser to extract an aromatic distillate from a spice sample.
20C) Fragrant Esters
Students use a temperature sensor and a Molecular Model Set to study the properties of reactants and products of three distinct esterification reactions.
21A) Polymers
Students investigate a polymerization reaction and compare the properties of polymers with varying degrees of cross-linking.
21B) Amino Acid to Protein
Students use a Molecular Model Set to explore amino acids and a polymerization reaction where amino acids are joined to build a “protein”.
22A) Chlorophyll Extraction
Students use a colorimeter to investigate which wavelengths of light are best absorbed by green plants.
22B) Respiration and Energy
Students use a Pressure Sensor to explore the effect of different energy sources on the respiration rate of yeast cells.
23A) Greenhouse Gases
Students use a temperature sensor to investigate how changing the composition of air affects the rate at which its temperature will increase when energy is added and the rate at which the temperature will decrease after the addition of energy stops.
23B) The Water Cycle
Students use a turbidity sensor, a conductivity sensor, and a condenser to explore how energy drives the movement and purification of water through Earth’s systems.
23C) Ocean Currents
Students use a Temperature Sensor and a Conductivity Sensor to investigate the driving forces behind ocean currents.
23D) Ocean Acidification
Students use a pH sensor to explore the effect of excess atmospheric carbon dioxide on water pH.
24A) Spectroscopy
Students use PASCO’s Spectrum Cards to model the use of spectroscopy to identify elements present in a compound.
