Perceiving Audible Chemical Changes: An Activity for Introductory Chemistry Students with Visual Impairment

Abstract

Many simple chemical reactions produce an audible fizz due to the formation of gases, such as oxygen, hydrogen, or carbon dioxide. A hands-on activity based on perceiving these audible chemical changes is presented. The relative quality of fizz due to the formation of gases in a chemical reaction was determined by visually impaired middle and high school students. Visually impaired students applied a grading scheme to determine the relative quality of the fizz produced in a chemical reaction. The activity was aimed at determining five effects: the effect of surface area on the speed of a chemical reaction, the effect of metals on the feasibility of a chemical reaction, the effect of a catalyst and reactant concentration on the speed of a chemical reaction, the effect of the strength of the acid on the speed of a chemical reaction, and the effect of electric current on the speed of a chemical reaction. Visually impaired students also determined the end point of the acid–base titration from the cessation of fizz produced during the progress of the titration. The chemistry content was verbally explained to the students prior to the activity. The details of the content, implementation of the activity, and results obtained by visually impaired students are presented.