Jeffrey Baker teaches at Alpha School, and recently received distillation supplies in a grant from Feed the World and Ohio Corn & Wheat. The grant is designed to help teachers implement the engaging Feed the World curriculum in their classrooms. Baker shares about how he used the supplies:
When this shipment arrived all I saw at first was the glassware, and not having access to gas flames for heat, I was not sure it would work. Then I unpacked the heating unit and knew we were in business!
I decided to do the Feed the World Ethanol: corn mash and distillation lesson. I had all the materials, except yeast, from the workshop I went to a couple of years ago but could not do the distillation because I lacked equipment. With this grant equipment I prepared the materials ahead of time with help from the biology class. Next, I set up the distillation unit and students helped with the final preparation and adding the materials.
Because it had aspects of chemistry and biology, I used it in every class. Each group was shown a video on distillation and I shared a video on how to set the unit up with those not involved in that part of the lab. The lessons were in line with all the standards from the classes. In physical science we just finished chemical bonding, and in biology we had already covered enzymes in the cell and done experiments with hydrogen peroxide on liver and apples to look at the role of catalase. So, talking about amylase and glucoamylase was a great transition and made sense to them!
All of the students asked a lot of questions—mainly why does the corn mixture smell so bad, ha! However, they asked a lot about ethanol, and in physical science we talked about its use as fuel.
I just want to thank Feed the World for providing material that makes it possible now to do this lab every year when we cover enzymes in biology and alternative fuels in physical science. We still make biodiesel every year so this will fit perfectly! Thanks again so much!