Chain Reaction

Before you engineer your own car, let's learn more about what it means to be a chemical engineer from a professional in the field! Tarah Schneberger has both her bachelor's and master's degrees in chemical engineering. Tarah currently works for Chevron Phillips Chemical Company.

Watch her career talk to learn more about what it’s like to be a full-time chemical engineer and discover all the resources chemical engineers create each day!

After viewing Tarah’s career talk, reflect on the video by completing the 3-2-1 writing activity. You can find a printable version of this in the attached Student Guide.

Before we create the fuel for our Chemical Reaction Car, let’s do some tinkering to build the car itself. As we learned from Tarah, part of engineering is tinkering to build things or to solve problems, so get creative with the car you build! It can be something as simple as grabbing an old toy car, digging up your old building bricks to design something new, or creating something in between. How you build your car is up to you, but make sure that whatever you decide, your car has four wheels and a sturdy base. Begin by reading the instructions below for building a car.

Materials

• Building materials (such as building bricks in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors) or a building base (such as a toy car)

• Window Notes sheet (found on the next page)

• Pencil or pen

Important Note:

You will be using this car in the next activity, so it will need to be big enough to hold a plastic bottle on top.

Instructions

1. Using your Window Notes sheet (found in the attached handout):

   Draw a picture of what you want your car to look like and write out a list of materials that you will need to build your car.

2. Now that you have a plan for constructing it, step into the role of an engineer, and build your car! On your Window Notes sheet, document the steps you take to build your car so that other engineers will be able to follow the same steps.

3. After you’re finished building your car, return to your Window Notes sheet and reflect on any issues you had. What problems popped up while building your car? How did you solve them?

Chemical engineers work on a variety of tasks that range from building items to mixing solutions to solving problems. As a chemical engineer, you’d get the chance to try all these things individually and together. In this activity, you’ll build on the car you engineered earlier. Before long, you’ll know how to send it rocketing down the sidewalk!

Disclaimer Statement

This activity is considered safe when conducted as written. Read and follow the safety and first aid guidelines below. While there are no specific safety hazards associated with any of the chemicals used in this activity, make sure to ask an adult to help because chemicals and flying objects are involved.

Safety and First Aid

• Ask for an adult’s help with this activity because chemicals and flying objects are used.

• Read all of the instructions before you begin.

• Wear the following personal protective equipment (PPE):

  • Goggles, glasses, or sunglasses

  • Gloves (if you are allergic to baking soda or vinegar)

• Do not ingest any of the materials.

• Conduct the activity outside—it will be messy.

• Before you begin, watch the Amoeba Sisters’ video on general lab safety.

First aid instructions: Wash the affected area with water.

Materials

• PPE (Goggles, glasses, or sunglasses)

• Baking soda

• Vinegar

• Empty plastic bottle with cap

• Single-ply tissue paper

• Funnel

• Duct tape

• Car (from earlier activity)

• Measuring spoon

• Hole punch or needle

• Camera (optional)

Instructions

1. Using duct tape, tape the empty bottle to your car. The opening of the bottle should be pointing in the same direction as the back of the car.

2. Poke a hole in the cap of the bottle using the hole punch or needle. Be careful! If you have trouble, ask your adult supervisor to help you.

3. Take the cap off of the bottle and use the funnel to pour vinegar into the bottle. Fill the bottle so that it is between one-half and two-thirds full.

4. On a table, lay out one piece of single-ply tissue paper. If you don’t have single-ply, you can pull the sheets of multi-ply tissue paper apart.

5. Pour 2 Tablespoons of baking soda onto the middle of the tissue. Roll it into a log.

6. Take all of your materials outside (if you have not done so already) and get your camera ready if you are using one!

7. Carefully push the baking soda tissue into the bottle.

8. Quickly screw the cap onto the bottle and hold your finger over the hole.

9. Gently shake the bottle so that the tissue disintegrates and the baking soda and vinegar mix.

10. Put your car down on the ground and, when you’re ready, remove your finger. Watch your car go flying!

11. Create and share a Tweet Up summary of your experiment. Share it with your friends and family along with your video, if you filmed the results!