Episode 11- Inside the Lab: Matter and Change Station Lab

Ep. 11 – Inside the Lab: Matter & Change  In this episode of The Confident Chemistry Teacher Podcast, I’m kicking off a new series: Inside the Lab. Today, I’m taking you inside my Matter & Change Lab—an 8-station activity that gives students confidence, reinforces key vocabulary, and sets safety expectations early in the year. I’ll highlight my 4 favorite stations and share teacher hacks that make setup, timing, and safety a whole lot smoother. Key Takeaways By the end of this episode, you’ll learn how to: Reinforce Chemistry vocabulary with hands-on practice Use station labs to build early lab confidence and safety habits Incorporate skills like stopwatch use, Bunsen burner setup, and conductivity testing Adapt a multi-station lab for large classes and 2-day pacing   Activities / Stations Featured Alka-Seltzer Reaction – Stopwatch skills + surface area observations Calcium Chloride + Baking Soda + Indicator – Evidence of reaction: gas, color, and temperature change Burning Magnesium – Bunsen burner practice + safety with bright light Conductivity Test (Salt vs. Sugar) – Ionic vs. molecular properties in action Other stations include evaporating salt water, filtering, magnet separation, and balance practice   Standards Connections HS-PS1-3: Plan and conduct investigations to gather evidence of physical and chemical properties Science & Engineering Practices: Making observations, analyzing data, using lab tools Crosscutting Concepts: Cause & effect; patterns   🎁 Free Resource Grab the Lab Day Starter Kit – includes a checklist, lab station joke cards, a sign-up sheet, and editable Google Slides to make your labs run smoother from start to finish. 👉 https://learn.chemschemistryclassroom.com/lab-day-starter-kit   🧪 Paid Resource The Confident Chem Lab Membership launches this October! Each month includes a ready-to-run lab with student handouts, teacher guides, quizzes, and setup videos—plus PD and Q&A support. Keep an ear out for more details!   Next Episode Teaser Next time, I’ll be sharing how I used the Lab Day Starter Kit to help make what seems like a simple and boring lab into a meaningful learning experience for my students and how it helped me prepare and organize for a great lab day.