Oxidation-Reduction Reactions
Students will explore redox (reduction-oxidation) reactions through hands-on investigation of voltaic cells and evaluate real-world applications of these reactions in sustainable battery research. Students will investigate electron transfer using metals like copper and zinc, apply oxidation numbers, and analyze battery innovations from AEOP labs.
Overview
Students investigate how electron transfer produces electricity in batteries, beginning with a Think-Talk-Write discussion of what an AA battery and a smartphone have in common. In groups, they build a copper-zinc voltaic cell, measure its voltage, and write half-reactions with oxidation numbers to identify which metal is oxidized and which is reduced. Direct instruction and guided practice cover oxidizing and reducing agents, oxidation numbers, and balancing redox reactions. Teams then compare at least three battery types, including a sustainable design, rating safety, efficiency, and environmental impact in a poster or infographic shared in a gallery walk. A choice-board exit ticket offers a problem scenario, a quiz, or a reflection. The lesson takes 2-3 days, with engagement timed at 8-10 minutes, exploration at 50-60 minutes, and explanation at 45-60 minutes.
Lesson Objectives
- Define reduction-oxidation (redox) reactions by exploring how electrons are transferred in batteries and voltaic cells.
- Apply the definitions of oxidation and reduction, along with oxidation numbers, to analyze chemical reactions observed during a laboratory investigation.
- Demonstrate understanding of redox principles by evaluating sustainable battery technologies developed in AEOP labs, considering factors such as environmental impact, efficiency, and design.
- Extend their thinking by applying redox concepts to biological combustion, specifically the chemical reaction of burning glucose found in plants that sustain forest fires.
- Work collaboratively to collect data, interpret results, construct scientific explanations using evidence, and communicate their findings through a group infographic or presentation.
Standards
NGSS · 3
- SEP2HS3: Develop a model based on evidence to illustrate the relationships between systems or between components of a system.
- PS1.BHS1: Chemical processes, their rates, and whether or not energy is stored or released can be understood in terms of the collisions of molecules and the rearrangements of atoms into new molecules, with consequent changes in the sum of all bond energies in the set of molecules that are matched by changes in kinetic energy.
- CCC5HS2: Changes of energy and matter in a system can be described in terms of energy and matter flows into, out of, and within that system.
CCSS ELA · 1
- SL.11-12.1.aCome to discussions prepared, having read and researched 1 Oxidation-Reduction Reactions material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas.