1. SURVEY OF CHEMISTRY LABORATORY I
CHEM 1151L
BLUE BOTTLE
THE HYPOTHESIS CYCLE

2. CAUTION!!!
BE SURE TO WEAR SAFETY GLASSES AT ALL TIMES IN THE LABORATORY NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS RULE!

3. BLUE BOTTLE
- To access students’ critical thinking skills - To access students’ ability to communicate in writing - Students will design and carry out a variety of experiments to discover the cause(s) of changes observed

4. SOLUTIONS FOR BLUE BOTTLE

5. - Obtain a clean 125 mL Erlenmeyer flask
MIX SOLUTIONS
- Obtain a clean 125 mL Erlenmeyer flask

6. - Four drops of solution C
MIX SOLUTIONS
Mix in the flask
- 25 mL of solution A
- 25 mL of solution B
- Four drops of solution C

7. MAKE OBSERVATIONS
- Place a rubber stopper firmly on the flask - Shake the contents vigorously

8. MAKE OBSERVATIONS - Set the flask down - Watch for a few minutes
- Record any observations made

9. - Make observations again
- Shake the flask again
- Make observations again

10. DESIGN EXPERIMENTS - List the major goal of this exercise
- Break the major goal into two minor goals that can be investigated

11. DESIGN EXPERIMENTS
For each of the minor goals - Write a testable hypothesis - Design an experiment to test the hypothesis - Consult instructor for approval - Carry out the experiment

12. A number of laboratory materials are available
DESIGN EXPERIMENTS
A number of laboratory materials are available
- Litmus paper
- Ice
- Warm temperature bath
- Nitrogen gas
- Oxygen gas
- Buret
- ETC

13. For each of the minor goals
DESIGN EXPERIMENTS
For each of the minor goals
- Record observations
- Draw conclusions
- Write a restructured hypothesis
Repeat the cycle until the goals are accomplished

14. DESIGN EXPERIMENTS
- Synthesize your conclusions into a coherent explanations of the major goal

15. WRITTEN REPORT
Write a formal laboratory report that includes the following elements - An introduction to the overall goal of the work - A statement of your initial observations - A statement of the first hypothesis developed - A description of the experiment designed to test the hypothesis - A clear description of the result of that experiment - The conclusion drawn from the experiment - Repeat Steps 3 – 6 for each hypothesis developed - An overall summary of all the experiments - The final conclusion