Of Experiments, Viruses, and Cookies Anonymous

“It’s pink!” I shouted to my lab partners, beckoning them over. “Look, Dr. Gallos, it’s pink!” I gushed to my chemistry teacher. Everyone else who passed by my lab table was greeted with a “Check out this solution, it’s pink!” from me. True enough, once I had dropped a nitrate-testing tablet into it, the once crystal clear tap water in the Erlenmeyer flask became a light pink color. When it turned a dark orange, I was even more ecstatic. My water sample has nitrate!

I have always enjoyed doing laboratory work. Everything just seems to make sense when the chemicals mix perfectly, producing a desired color. The experiments, variables, data, and results all come together to form a clear picture. For our IB Group 4 science project, my classmates and I had to design and conduct experiments to identify the different ions and carbonates present in our tap water. I remember feeling so proud of myself as I mixed, heated, centrifuged, and observed different chemical solutions with a clear purpose in mind.

This kind of learning style has always given me such a sense of accomplishment. This is also why I enjoy baking cookies so much. To me, baking is just another chemistry experiment, but with measuring cups instead of graduated cylinders....