In the afternoon of March 17th, we broke into groups to become specialists with different topics related to St. Patrick's Day. After reading and sorting through information, students presented the information to the rest of the class.
Next, we built off of the information about the potato famine in Ireland in the mid-1800's. We explored what part of a potato is "edible", considering that most people peel potatos for cooking. Through the process, students also discovered why the mass of their peels added to the mass of their pulp didn't equal the original mass of the potato.
We finished the day by turning regular copper pennies into "gold". Students cleaned their pennies in an acidic solution (Taco Bell sauce). Next, they watched as Dr. Brock galvanized the pennies in zinc. They soon held a zinc coated penny in their hand. Finally, Dr. Brock circulated around the room so students could watch as their penny became the alloy brass (when zinc and copper are heated they create brass). The brass pennies were now shinny, gold colored.
