At-Home Activities

How does shampoo, salad dressing and other common household items fit into your classification system? What criteria would you use to develop a classification system for the items found in your home?

Make a chart listing 10 liquids found at home. Examine the contents by reading the labels on the containers. On your chart, record (a) the liquids that meet the definition of a solution, and (b) the solvent and solute(s) in each solution.

Make a table of the types of filters used in the home and the materials they are designed to filter. What kinds of materials would you use to construct a filter for a wet/dry vacuum?

Make a list of solvents found around the home. Working from the label ingredients, list the major solutes and the solvent. Indicate whether the solutes and solvent are solid, liquid or gas.

Determine the fastest way to get sugar to dissolve in water. What did you have to do?

How do the results of the class investigation compare with home baking experiences? Compare various recipes for pastry. How are they similar or different? What are the reasons for the differences?

Read the package directions for dissolving jelly dessert crystals on a common brand of jelly dessert. Are the package directions consistent with the results from this investigation? What would happen if the package contents were not stirred? Would the jelly form if the contents were not dissolved in hot water? Investigate and provide an explanation for your results using particle theory.

Rock candy is made by dissolving sugar in warm water to form a saturated solution, then allowing it to cool. Prepare a sample of rock candy and summarize in one paragraph, using key vocabulary learned in this lesson, what happens as the solution cools.

Is there is any difference between the solubility of different flavours of drink crystals in cold water? Explain what materials you would need and how you would conduct a fair test of this. If the package directions are followed, is a saturated solution formed?

Make a list of the groups or categories that materials must be separated into for recycling. Provide examples of the types of items that can be put into each group. Name some of the physical properties of the items in each group.

1. If your home is heated by natural gas, determine the total volume of gas used in a year. Convert the cubic metre consumption into terms that are easily understood (e.g., three classrooms full of gas each year).
2. Air is mainly oxygen and nitrogen. Make a list of other gases that might be present in your home. What are the sources of these other gases? How could the air at home be cleaned up?
3. Carbon monoxide is a dangerous gas formed by the incomplete combustion of various types of fuels. Research carbon monoxide detectors and determine the best location for such a detector in your home.

Discuss with family members the various uses of plastics. What would we do if we did not have plastics?

In the 1830s, wood was the main material used for construction. Make a tally chart of the main construction materials used on all the bridges you encounter in a one week period. List these under the headings Concrete, Wood, Steel. Record your results in a pictograph to show the most commonly used building materials you encounter.

Interview a local dry cleaner to find out the role of solvents in the dry cleaning process. How does the dry cleaner dispose of its solvents? Are they looking into ways of becoming a "green" dry cleaner?

Contact a local conservation authority to determine the types of pollution found in the rivers, streams or other water bodies in your community.

Find out about the substances that are found in bottled water and those found in tap water. Which do you prefer to drink? Why?

Is the tap water in your home hard or soft? Half-fill a bowl with tap water. Use soap to wash your hands in the bowl. If the soap makes scum instead of lather, empty the bowl before refilling it to the halfway mark. Add one spoonful of washing soda and stir with a spoon. Now take the soap and wash your hands in the bowl again. What difference do you notice?

Create your own "green" oven cleaner. Mix salt, baking soda and water to make a paste. Vary the proportions of the ingredients until you get the best results. Keep a record of your measurements in a journal describing your experiences.

Discuss with family members the issue of pollution in the Great Lakes.

Write a formal letter to your MP or MPP expressing your point of view about the loss of wetlands in your province.

Locate a variety of bottled water brands in your local grocery store. Record the substances they contain and the concentration of those substances.

Note to parents: Since the Design Challenge may be used by teachers as a performance assessment opportunity, parents should consult with the teacher to determine the appropriate degree of parental involvement in their child's completion of the Design Challenge.

The Unit Summary in your textbook lists all the learning expectations you have covered in the unit and identifies the specific lessons in which the knowledge and skills have been developed.

You can use the Unit Summary to help you create a personal study guide in preparation for an end-of-unit test:

1. Copy down the list of learning expectations from your textbook. These are grouped under three headings: Understanding Concepts, Applying Skills, Making Connections.
2. For each learning expectation, locate the appropriate lesson(s) in the unit where the expectation was covered. These are found at the end of each expectation (e.g., 2.1).
3. Flip to the appropriate lesson(s) for each expectation and make study notes of the key ideas or skills you learned.