What is the purpose of this module?

Looking for a way to actively engage your students in learning about the Gas Laws? This module does just that for students enrolled in Chemistry I or Chemistry I Honors! In this module, students will explore the relationship of volume, pressure, and temperature on gases (Boyle's and Charles' Gas Laws).

Designed as a three-week unit (fifteen 50-minute class periods), it can easily be modified for a block schedule. Prerequisite skills for student success include knowledge about the states of matter and their characteristics and previous experience using CBL (calculator-based laboratory) and graphing calculators.

Utilizing laboratory investigations and computational modeling techniques with Excel©, as well as many interactive learning strategies, students will study Boyle's and Charles' Laws. Students will graph and compare their lab data to the expected results of the model. Upon completing this module, students will be able to answer the following questions:

• How does a hot air balloon work?

• Why don't NASCAR teams fully inflate the tires at the beginning of a run?

• What is the coldest temperature?

• What do you think would happen if we reach the coldest temperature possible?

• Why do scuba divers suffer from the bends if they ascend incorrectly?

• What causes altitude sickness?