Lead Sciency Experiment

[brimstoneSalad]

Oh, ok. Apparently it's boiling point is like 3,000 degrees (Farenheit, which America insists on using for some reason), so I guess that's not really a concern. But... What if it splashes or something? I mean, it's lead. Things could go wrong.

It's water with a few parts per million lead. It's perfectly safe to get on you. It's safe to swim in, shower in, and even drink as long as you don't drink it regularly.

For future knowledge, it wouldn't technically need to be the boiling point of the lead, but the compound -- and just somewhere near it -- sometimes compounds have lower melting or boiling points than elements.
You'd be dealing with things like these:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead%28II%29_acetate
But that decomposes long before it becomes a gas. I would guess all of those you might be dealing with would.

There are special exceptions, though:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraethyllead
Look at its boiling point.

It's not something you have to worry about for the purposes of this experiment. I would not recommend working with tetraethyl lead.

Where am i going to buy water soluble lead salts? o_O

You don't buy the lead salts, you make them the same way they formed in the lead pipes in flint. Exposing lead to certain kinds of water.

Anyway, we can come up with something different if you're worried about it.

I disagree. There may be better ways to learn, but completing tons of homework is a high standard in that it requires a lot of effort. It's not like schools these days are encouraging students to slack off; there's MORE work to do now. It might not be useful, but it's not a rock bottom standard.

I consider useless busywork to be a low standard of education. A high standard would be student engagement, enjoying the material, and actually learning and remembering it. Cramming to learn for a standardized test and then forgetting everything is rock bottom to me. It combines ineffective teaching with torture that makes kids hate school. Homework should be outlawed.

Anyway, the experiment I'm planning on doing isn't exactly worthless. I'm comparing the most popular conventional detergent (Tide) to a "green" detergent to see if the so-called "green" detergent is truly environmentally friendly.

That could be fun, if you have time. Plants grow very slowly. How will you test to see if the plants grown in it are safe to eat?

[brimstoneSalad]

So you're saying the golem effect is at play here?

More that it's not engaging and it burns kids out. I'd rather they be engaged and interested, not forced.

Whenever I do homework, I feel the knowledge get reinforced, especially for language classes and math. Then again, that's an anecdote, not a scientific consensus. Probably varies from person to person.

Language requires immersion and conversation practice; worksheets aren't the best bet.
Likewise, for math the real challenge is stimulating interest, not rote memorization.

[Cirion Spellbinder]

Homework should be outlawed.

All homework? Some can be pretty helpful for reinforcing your understanding. What about non-mandatory homework?

[brimstoneSalad]

Homework should be outlawed.

All homework? Some can be pretty helpful for reinforcing your understanding. What about non-mandatory homework?

Non-mandatory is fine. If a child wants to do something, that's great.

[EquALLity]

It's water with a few parts per million lead. It's perfectly safe to get on you. It's safe to swim in, shower in, and even drink as long as you don't drink it regularly.

Is it though?

For future knowledge, it wouldn't technically need to be the boiling point of the lead, but the compound -- and just somewhere near it -- sometimes compounds have lower melting or boiling points than elements.
You'd be dealing with things like these:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead(II)_acetate
But that decomposes long before it becomes a gas. I would guess all of those you might be dealing with would.

There are special exceptions, though:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraethyllead
Look at its boiling point.

It's not something you have to worry about for the purposes of this experiment. I would not recommend working with tetraethyl lead.

Oh, that makes sense.
Either way, I don't have access to lead II acetate or other water soluble compounds with lead.

You don't buy the lead salts, you make them the same way they formed in the lead pipes in flint. Exposing lead to certain kinds of water.

Anyway, we can come up with something different if you're worried about it.

It has to do with the type of water?

Where do I get a lead pipe? o_O And how do I make that type of water? And how do I make sure the concentration of lead isn't to high to the point where it's dangerous? How do I make sure the lead is a certain type?

I consider useless busywork to be a low standard of education. A high standard would be student engagement, enjoying the material, and actually learning and remembering it. Cramming to learn for a standardized test and then forgetting everything is rock bottom to me. It combines ineffective teaching with torture that makes kids hate school. Homework should be outlawed.

Homework should be outlawed?

Homework isn't really just useless busywork, it does help you learn to an extent.

That could be fun, if you have time. Plants grow very slowly. How will you test to see if the plants grown in it are safe to eat?

I'm not sure where you got safe to eat? I'm just testing if the plants are harmed.

[EquALLity]

How do you guys think I should expose the plants to detergent? The original experiment is designed for worms, so the procedure isn't very helpful in that regard.

Should I spray it on the leaves? How do I make sure the sprays are the same, though?
Or maybe I should pour a fixed amount into the soil?

What kind of plant? Should it be something edible, since that might give more useful information than a flower would? It would also be helpful if it grows quickly. Apparently radishes grow very quickly, but winter radishes take longer.
I think I'm going to learn a lot about gardening for this.

[brimstoneSalad]

Where do I get a lead pipe? o_O And how do I make that type of water? And how do I make sure the concentration of lead isn't to high to the point where it's dangerous? How do I make sure the lead is a certain type?

It doesn't have to be a pipe. Most of these questions are things you'd learn in doing the project.

I'm not sure where you got safe to eat? I'm just testing if the plants are harmed.

But the more important question is agricultural, as in useful water for food security, right?

[Generally Acceptable]

I consider useless busywork to be a low standard of education. A high standard would be student engagement, enjoying the material, and actually learning and remembering it. Cramming to learn for a standardized test and then forgetting everything is rock bottom to me. It combines ineffective teaching with torture that makes kids hate school. Homework should be outlawed.

While I do agree that the current education system needs serious improvements, why do you believe that mandatory homework deserves to be outlawed? I've seen studies on why homework isn't very useful, and how some kids spend hours doing it, but I've been skeptical towards them.

[brimstoneSalad]

While I do agree that the current education system needs serious improvements, why do you believe that mandatory homework deserves to be outlawed? I've seen studies on why homework isn't very useful, and how some kids spend hours doing it, but I've been skeptical towards them.

This could be a god topic for a new thread (so others can find and engage in the discussion).

I'll just say, in short, that learning should be self motivated to be cost effective (and most socially useful), and it's really OK if some children never learn math as long as they learn a trade that interests them (they will pick it up when and if they need it). Start with functional interests, then help them learn what they want or find they need from there.

[Generally Acceptable]

This could be a god topic for a new thread (so others can find and engage in the discussion).

I think we already have a topic on education. But I guess starting a new one wouldn't hurt.

I'll just say, in short, that learning should be self motivated to be cost effective (and most socially useful), and it's really OK if some children never learn math as long as they learn a trade that interests them (they will pick it up when and if they need it). Start with functional interests, then help them learn what they want or find they need from there.

So you hate homework because it forces a child to do things they don't want to do, and it takes time away from learning other things?
I've talked with kids who sometimes do homework till two o' clock in the morning!