Pharmacologist - Research and Development - Fun Activities

Research and Development - PHARMACOLOGIST

Fizzy Nano Challenge (a Try Engineering project)

Primary Middle

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Personal and social capability

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Critical and creative thinking

Cooperative Learning Activity

Teacher
Local Copy: Teacher's Guide & Materials [PDF]

1. In a group of 3 - 4 students [can be done individually], look over the following webpage. You will need water, antacid tablets [or Vitamin C tablets], 2 cups, an envelope [or mortar and pestle], a stop watch or use your timer on your watch or iPad; and, allocate one student to video the experiment.

Instructions from the website:

2. Research Phase
Read the materials provided to you by your teacher. If you have access to the internet, also explore resources at www.trynano.org.

3. Hypothesis
As a team, decide what if anything you think might happen differently when water is added to a whole antiacid tablet or when water is added to a crushed or crumbled up antacid tablet. Write a sentence or two describing your team's hypothesis.

4. Test
Now, test your hypothesis! Place one whole tablet in one of the two cups provided to you, and crush another tablet inside an envelope to help contain the crumbled parts. You may also simply crack the whole tablet into ten to fifteen smaller pieces if you like. Drop the crumbled tablet into the second cup. Then add about 150 ml of water to each one. Video the whole experiment so you can compare the reactions. Don't forget to time the reactions.

5. Observation and Results
Observe and discuss what happened -- if anything -- and compare the results with your team's hypothesis. Look at the videos of these reactions and compare them. Was there a difference in the timing of each experiment?

6. Presentation and Reflection Phase
Present your original hypothesis and experiment observations to the class, and listen to the presentations of the other teams. Then complete the reflection sheet.

7. Reflection
Complete the reflection questions below:

A. How accurate was your hypothesis compared to what happened?
B. What surprised you about what you saw?
C. What other hypotheses were developed by other student teams?
D. What do you think might have happened if you used a larger whole tablet instead? What about if you were able to crush the tablet into a powder?
E. Did you think that working as a team made this project easier or harder? Why?
F. Give an example of how surface area impacts another material.

8. As a Pharmacologist, what are the implications for your recommendations on how a medicine should be taken? Provide examples.

Aspirin: what do you know?

Secondary

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Personal and social capability

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Critical and creative thinking

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Literacy

Australian Curriculum General Capability: ICT Capability

Cooperative Learning Activity

1. What do you know about the drug Aspirin? You are to use the Retrieval Chart Strategy throughout this activity. Download this chart for ready referral as your group fills in the details. .

In a group of 3 - 4 students list as many things as possible that you know about this drug and place it into the chart.

2. Read the following articles: Reading