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This article presents an example of an activity intended to interactively engage students in the experimental nature of chemistry. The investigation draws students into an analysis of several chemical and physical concepts and allows them to draw conclusions and construct models via an experimental approach. The experiment illustrates concepts concerning the pressure-volume relationship of gases, solubility relationships of both gases and solids in liquids relative to temperature, the kinetics of the reaction of Alka Seltzer in water, and acid-base chemistry.
Students are guided through the first part of the investigation and then asked to design experiments to further study the chemical system and answer specific questions. Assessment is based not only on getting a right answer but also on the logic of the students' approaches, the methods and documentation presented by the students, and their understanding of the system, based in part on their answers to the questions.
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