How to Research for Hydrogen Peroxide-Related Science Projects

Finding an experiment using hydrogen peroxide.

Although you don't need to be Sherlock Holmes, some sleuthing skills and legwork are needed to find an experiment that requires hydrogen peroxide and suits your lesson objectives. But the search for a project is almost as much fun as actually doing it. With a little work, you will discover more than enough interesting and appropriate choices that offer a rewarding scientific experience for your students.

Instructions

Internet Searches

1. Open a browser and type in your search parameters. I found that "hydrogen peroxide experiment" returned several good experiments. Elephant Toothpaste is a particularly dramatic and relatively simple experiment.

2. Initiate a second search using the keywords: science buddies or go directly to: www.sciencebuddies.org. Science Buddies is a wonderful scientific literacy resource for parents, teachers, and K-12 students.

   At the home page, select the tab "Project Ideas." In the search box, enter: hydrogen peroxide experiments to display some interesting options. The two experiments Crime Scene Chemistry: Cool Blue Light of Luminol and Liver Stinks are good possibilities. The former calls for the purchase of a kit, which makes gathering the materials easier, but isn't necessary. And you can substitute hydrogen peroxide as the oxidizer instead of perborate or sodium hydroxide.

3. Start another search using the keywords: Journal of Chemical Education or go directly to: http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/. Type in the search box: hydrogen peroxide experiment.

   Click the JCE @ ACS Pubs bullet and initiate another search using the keywords: hydrogen peroxide experiment. This search request will retrieve several excellent experiment options. The journal's database provides an abstract of each experiment for your convenience.

   To read the full text of the experiment, you will need to visit a college/university library, preferably a Chemistry Library, to find the Journal of Chemical Education.

Library Searches

1. Check in your local community library's children/teen section for guides and books about science fair projects. You will need some time to do a manual search of each document to find an hydrogen peroxide experiment. There will be some, but only a few at best. Robert Gardner's book (cited below under References) contained one experiment with hydrogen peroxide.

2. Call your nearest college or university library and ask for a reference librarian. She can point you to additional sources to research.

3. Find the publications listed below (under References). They all include experiments calling for hydrogen peroxide. Some have an index to look for hydrogen references. Others will require you to search through the materials section of each experiment described.

Tips & Warnings

• Try calling (or emailing) the Chemistry Department at your local high school, the nearest university/college or community college. An instructor should be able to direct you to additional project sources.

• Also, you could contact the program director of any nearby science center for information.

References

• Using Hydrogen Peroxide: Elephant Toothpaste
• Science Buddies
• Journal of Chemical Education: ACS Publications
• Science Projects About Chemistry; Robert Gardner; 1994

Resources

• Classical Chemistry Demonstrations; Catherine O'Driscoll; 1995
• Classical Chemistry Experiments; K. Hutchings; 2000
• Chemical Demonstrations: Handbook for Teaching Chemistry; Bassam Shaskhashiri; 1983; Vols I - V
• Chemical Demonstrations: Sourcebook for Teachers; Lee Summerlin, 1988; Vol. I-II
• Chemical Curiosities; Herbert Roesky; 1986
• 50 Model Rocket Projects for the Evil Genius; Gavin Harper; 2006