Overview
For this project, we had to create a board game that had chemical reactions included in it. After completing the game, we had people of the community play our game and learn about chemistry while having a good time. The game had to include a phase change, a production of a gas, a double replacement reaction and a single replacement reaction that lit up an LED. In addition, we made a blueprint, game rules and since we were playing with chemicals that can be unsafe, we created safety precautions and required our players to wear goggles and glasses.
Content
Element: primary constituents of matter
Compound: a thing that is composed of two or more separate elements; a mixture
Ion: an atom or molecule with a net electric charge due to the loss or gain of one or more electrons
Single Replacement Reaction: chemical reaction where an element reacts with a compound and takes the place of another element in that compound
Double Displacement Reaction: where two compounds react, and the cations and the negative ions anions of the two reactants switch places, forming two new compounds or products
Synthesis Reaction: multiple reactants combine to form a single product
Decomposition Reaction: which a single compound breaks down into two or more elements or new compounds
Combustion: which something reacts with oxygen - commonly known as burning
Aqueous: of or containing water, typically as a solvent or medium
Compound: a thing that is composed of two or more separate elements; a mixture
Ion: an atom or molecule with a net electric charge due to the loss or gain of one or more electrons
Single Replacement Reaction: chemical reaction where an element reacts with a compound and takes the place of another element in that compound
Double Displacement Reaction: where two compounds react, and the cations and the negative ions anions of the two reactants switch places, forming two new compounds or products
Synthesis Reaction: multiple reactants combine to form a single product
Decomposition Reaction: which a single compound breaks down into two or more elements or new compounds
Combustion: which something reacts with oxygen - commonly known as burning
Aqueous: of or containing water, typically as a solvent or medium
Our Project
Our project's theme was ESPN 8 The Ocho, which is a reference to the movie Dodgeball. This theme was wacky sports and in our game we had four crazy minigames. Our first game was cornhole and the object of the game was to make an Alka-Seltzer tablet in a cup of vinegar. This was our production of a gas.
Our next game was basketball. In this game, the player had to make the ball in the hoop, causing a piece of dry ice to fall in a cup of water, which was our phase change.
The third game was bottle flipping which is where our double displacement reaction occurred. The player would take a water bottle and flip it onto the color circle they thought the reaction would make.
Our last and final game was our single replacement reaction and it involved popping a balloon filled with copper chloride using a dart gun. The copper chloride would then fall onto a strip of aluminum foil and it would slowly dissolve into the solution. After the foil was completely broken, an LED would light up on a breadboard that was connected to the foil. After the player completed all four minigames, the player finished the whole game.
Our next game was basketball. In this game, the player had to make the ball in the hoop, causing a piece of dry ice to fall in a cup of water, which was our phase change.
The third game was bottle flipping which is where our double displacement reaction occurred. The player would take a water bottle and flip it onto the color circle they thought the reaction would make.
Our last and final game was our single replacement reaction and it involved popping a balloon filled with copper chloride using a dart gun. The copper chloride would then fall onto a strip of aluminum foil and it would slowly dissolve into the solution. After the foil was completely broken, an LED would light up on a breadboard that was connected to the foil. After the player completed all four minigames, the player finished the whole game.
Reflection
This was a great first project. It was interesting, fun and exciting and I really loved my group. I learned a lot about chemistry and chemical reactions and I created a board game which is very cool. Normally when I work with my friends, I get very off topic and do not get a lot of work done. But in this project, I was able to have a lot of fun with my group while getting a lot of work done. Not a lot of things went wrong this project, however I thought I wasn't a leader. I was told what to do but never really told others to do anything. I did, however, come up with a lot of ideas including our theme.