Today I did the burn the dollar bill demonstration with my science classes. I use this as a discrepant event in that what happens is not what one would think happens, and this gets their attention. I also use this as an introduction to a discussion on class safety. Each class tried to name as many safety procedures that I demonstrated while doing this demo.

While I was preparing for this demo, I took my time and made sure I did all the little things like to move the alcohol away from the flame, keep the water running, washed my hands after I soaked the dollar bill, wore safety glasses, used safety matched, gave the class procedure for what to do during a fire drill, gave the procedure if a beaker is dropped and broken in class, put a lid on the solution so no vapors excape, and put salt in the solution to see the flame. I also discussed with the class that accidents usually happen when one is rushing to complete a task.

To complete the lesson, I challenged each class to list as many safety aspects as possible on the Smartboard and to think of more than the preceding class. Every class did very well. It was a great first day and I think I’m more excited than the students about doing some science this year.