Description:
For this project, we studied chemical reactions. First, brainstorming a theme and then creating a board game that involved chemical reactions around that theme. After much debate, the decided theme was Jurassic Volcano Ocean, basically dinosaurs with a volcano and an ocean involved. With the theme settled, we had 6 more days to design and build the actual game, set up reactions, and write the rules. Our group went through a blueprinting and construction before the final product was created: a reach-the-end type board game centered around a time limit and a paper-mache volcano.
Concepts:
Reactants: Materials and/or compounds that are used in a chemical reaction. They are displayed commonly on the left side of chemical equations. We used knowledge of reactants to find the materials for our chemical reactions.
Products: The results of a chemical reactions, often displayed on the right of a chemical equation. We used knowledge of products to describe the results of the reactions in our board game.
Charge: A trait of materials that can be either positive, neutral, or negative. This charge is caused by the prevalence of either electrons(negative) or protons(positive). We used an understanding of charges to help balance the chemical equations describing our reactions.
Electron: A relatively small, sub-atomic particle that orbits around the nucleus of an atom. Carries a negative charge. We used an understanding of electrons to understand the development of ions.
Neutron: A relatively large, sub-atomic particle that carries a neutral charge and makes up part of the nucleus. Weighs much more than an electron. We did not use in any part of our project.
Proton: A relatively large, sub-atomic particle that carries a positive charge and makes up part of the nucleus. Weighs much more than an electron. We used an understanding of protons to further understand the charges of ions.
Ions: Atoms that have a non-neutral charge, meaning the number of protons and electrons are not equal. There are anions, which carry an overall negative charge, and cations, which carry an overall positive charge. We used an understanding of ions to help balance compounds in equations.
Compounds: Two or more atoms connected form a compound. These compounds can be formed out of ions or normal atoms, and can have a charge. We used ionic compounds in the entirety of our reactions and used the concepts to help balance equations.
Synthesis Reaction: A type of reaction that combines two ions to create a compound. We did not use any synthesis reactions in our project.
Decomposition Reaction: A reaction that begins with a compound and ends with only ions as products. We did not use decomposition reactions this project.
Single Displacement Reaction: A reaction where an ion and a compound are combined and the ion within the compound is displaced to be outside the compound while the added ion takes its place. For this to work, the added ion must be more reactive than the replaced ion. We used a single replacement reaction to breakdown a sheet of aluminum foil and light an LED.
Double Displacement Reaction: A reaction in which two ionic compounds interact and swap anions to form two different compounds. This an lead to a change of state. We used a double displacement reaction to turn a yellow liquid dark brown to simulate the dinosaurs being eaten by the sharks.
Gas Evolution: A reaction in which one of the outputs is a gas. This can be seen easily either through bubble or a balloon over the sealed container. We used a gas evolution reaction to represent the volcano exploding.
Combustion: A reaction that combine a compound and oxygen with heat as a catalyst to create a reaction that release light and heat. Carbon dioxide is a common product as well. We did not use a combustion reaction in our project.
Chemical Equation: A way of representing a chemical reaction. The items added(reactants) are usually located on the left side of the equation while the outputs(products) are usually located on the right. If any catalyst is present, it is located over the arrow between the products and reactants. We used chemical equations to describe the chemistry of the reactions in our board game.
Catalyst: A substance or environment that lowers the energy threshold required to start a reaction or simply provides enough energy to start the chemical reaction. An example of this is combustion. We did not use catalysts in our project.
States of Matter: The states of which a compound or ion can be in. Each form has a different level of energy generally tied to it. The forms we focused on were solid, aqueous, liquid, and gas. We used shorthand for these states of matter to describe the reactants and products of a chemical equation.
Project:
Below is a picture of our board game, the rules of the board game, a brief description of the chemical reactions used in the game and a build log, and a picture of the full set up of the board game. In play, players progress around the volcano and attempt to reach the end before the volcano erupted.
For this project, we studied chemical reactions. First, brainstorming a theme and then creating a board game that involved chemical reactions around that theme. After much debate, the decided theme was Jurassic Volcano Ocean, basically dinosaurs with a volcano and an ocean involved. With the theme settled, we had 6 more days to design and build the actual game, set up reactions, and write the rules. Our group went through a blueprinting and construction before the final product was created: a reach-the-end type board game centered around a time limit and a paper-mache volcano.
Concepts:
Reactants: Materials and/or compounds that are used in a chemical reaction. They are displayed commonly on the left side of chemical equations. We used knowledge of reactants to find the materials for our chemical reactions.
Products: The results of a chemical reactions, often displayed on the right of a chemical equation. We used knowledge of products to describe the results of the reactions in our board game.
Charge: A trait of materials that can be either positive, neutral, or negative. This charge is caused by the prevalence of either electrons(negative) or protons(positive). We used an understanding of charges to help balance the chemical equations describing our reactions.
Electron: A relatively small, sub-atomic particle that orbits around the nucleus of an atom. Carries a negative charge. We used an understanding of electrons to understand the development of ions.
Neutron: A relatively large, sub-atomic particle that carries a neutral charge and makes up part of the nucleus. Weighs much more than an electron. We did not use in any part of our project.
Proton: A relatively large, sub-atomic particle that carries a positive charge and makes up part of the nucleus. Weighs much more than an electron. We used an understanding of protons to further understand the charges of ions.
Ions: Atoms that have a non-neutral charge, meaning the number of protons and electrons are not equal. There are anions, which carry an overall negative charge, and cations, which carry an overall positive charge. We used an understanding of ions to help balance compounds in equations.
Compounds: Two or more atoms connected form a compound. These compounds can be formed out of ions or normal atoms, and can have a charge. We used ionic compounds in the entirety of our reactions and used the concepts to help balance equations.
Synthesis Reaction: A type of reaction that combines two ions to create a compound. We did not use any synthesis reactions in our project.
Decomposition Reaction: A reaction that begins with a compound and ends with only ions as products. We did not use decomposition reactions this project.
Single Displacement Reaction: A reaction where an ion and a compound are combined and the ion within the compound is displaced to be outside the compound while the added ion takes its place. For this to work, the added ion must be more reactive than the replaced ion. We used a single replacement reaction to breakdown a sheet of aluminum foil and light an LED.
Double Displacement Reaction: A reaction in which two ionic compounds interact and swap anions to form two different compounds. This an lead to a change of state. We used a double displacement reaction to turn a yellow liquid dark brown to simulate the dinosaurs being eaten by the sharks.
Gas Evolution: A reaction in which one of the outputs is a gas. This can be seen easily either through bubble or a balloon over the sealed container. We used a gas evolution reaction to represent the volcano exploding.
Combustion: A reaction that combine a compound and oxygen with heat as a catalyst to create a reaction that release light and heat. Carbon dioxide is a common product as well. We did not use a combustion reaction in our project.
Chemical Equation: A way of representing a chemical reaction. The items added(reactants) are usually located on the left side of the equation while the outputs(products) are usually located on the right. If any catalyst is present, it is located over the arrow between the products and reactants. We used chemical equations to describe the chemistry of the reactions in our board game.
Catalyst: A substance or environment that lowers the energy threshold required to start a reaction or simply provides enough energy to start the chemical reaction. An example of this is combustion. We did not use catalysts in our project.
States of Matter: The states of which a compound or ion can be in. Each form has a different level of energy generally tied to it. The forms we focused on were solid, aqueous, liquid, and gas. We used shorthand for these states of matter to describe the reactants and products of a chemical equation.
Project:
Below is a picture of our board game, the rules of the board game, a brief description of the chemical reactions used in the game and a build log, and a picture of the full set up of the board game. In play, players progress around the volcano and attempt to reach the end before the volcano erupted.
Reflection:
Though this project went fairly well, it was not perfect. There were certain moments where I could have been building further on the board and choose not to due to tiredness and fatigue. I will attempt to improve this by attempting to go to sleep before midnight and push through fatigue. Another issue was my poor overall planning. Throughout the project, lack of planning even caused almost entirely lost build days. To improve this, I will attempt to create a plan at the beginning of the project.
With the bad, there is always good. In this project, I was able to cooperate ideas fluidly with others. Especially with group, many ideas were very good and definitely workable. We were able to amalgamate the ideas into another workable idea. Another good trait I had was leadership. I was able to organize the production of our board and divide work among the group to get it done.
Though this project went fairly well, it was not perfect. There were certain moments where I could have been building further on the board and choose not to due to tiredness and fatigue. I will attempt to improve this by attempting to go to sleep before midnight and push through fatigue. Another issue was my poor overall planning. Throughout the project, lack of planning even caused almost entirely lost build days. To improve this, I will attempt to create a plan at the beginning of the project.
With the bad, there is always good. In this project, I was able to cooperate ideas fluidly with others. Especially with group, many ideas were very good and definitely workable. We were able to amalgamate the ideas into another workable idea. Another good trait I had was leadership. I was able to organize the production of our board and divide work among the group to get it done.