As part of the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards Curriculum, eighth-grade students at Richmond Hill Middle School participated in a variety of chemistry related lab activities. 

These activities reinforced the concepts taught in the classroom through integrated real world applications. Teachers and students dressed the part of mad scientists and carried out the theme all through the day.

By using experiments such as exploding beverage bottles, pyrotechnic pumpkins and dry ice drops, students were able to see the science behind the changes of matter in a variety of experiments. Using math to help calculate measurements as well as other cross-curriculum related skills, the science department demonstration to show chemical reactions and combustibility of substances.

“Our students have the opportunity to apply the practical, conceptual and academic knowledge learned in the classroom,” Cindy Youmans, a science teacher at Richmond Hill Middle School, said. “It is wonderful to give them the chance to be outside participating in hands on learning. It is not every day we get to light a pumpkin on fire. Now when we discuss combustion, they can make a much more solid connection to exothermic chemical reactions.”