Jesuit students ignite their Halloween spirit with a science project marked by a deadly twist.
On October 29, sophomore chemistry students in Ms. Mathews and Mrs. Smith classes transformed the courtyard by the lecture hall into a graveyard filled with tombstones highlighting the individual elements. The tombstones varied in shape, size, color, and design, the uniqueness of each headstone reflecting the creativity of the students and their efforts in the project. A few of the projects display traditional tombstones while many featured aspects of a particular element. One group of students who were assigned the element Krypton drew a colorful laser display on their tombstone because of the element’s important role in high-powered gas lasers, while another went to the extent of carving their project onto an actual stone slab!
According to Ms. Matthews, “the tombstone project was used to reiterate electron configuration, noble gas configuration, and orbital notation but also was a fun way to get into the Halloween spirit.”
Providing the different configurations for the elements not only requires a solid understanding of several different periodic table trends but also requires practice in order to accurately write these configurations. As opposed to reviewing a few more days in class which would include repetitious book work, Ms. Mathews and Mrs. Smith, feeling festive, decided for their classes to practice in a more involved and engaging way.
This approach seemed well fitted to student Benny Otiniano ’18, a student whom often exhibits his high energy and enthusiasm during class. After delivering a highly impassioned speech, which was amusing yet informative, over the element Gold and its configurations and uses, Benny stated; “it helped me refresh my mind on the electron configuration of the elements.” Memorable moments like Benny’s presentation and the neat ideas incorporated into the tombstones of students proved to be helpful in their understanding of the concepts.
Similar to Benny, Alex Giebler’18 said that he thought it was a “good way to combine creativity and book knowledge into one big project.”
The views of both Benny and Alex represent mostly all students in Mrs. Smith and Ms. Mathews’ classes as they seemed to have had a very positive experience with this project. Having the ability to work with partners and also being able to have some fun gave a good change of pace from the normally rigid structure of chemistry. Although this is the first time the school has seen the tombstone project, it can be expected to be seen again in the years to come!
