Presentation+Outline

 To capture the crowd's attention, I intend on providing a funny introduction which will captivate them and hopefully spark their interest in learning and have fun at the same time. This funny introduction will include a story about an elephant and his dirty teeth. As the reaction takes place, a story about a chemist that wants to help the elephant clean his filthy teeth will go along with it. The story will show how some compounds can interact with each other given certain circumstances such as a catalyst or temperature. The story will allow the students to remember the material provided well, because a visual and verbal explanation will be present.

Before the reaction actually occurs, I will quickly explain the fundamentals of a decomposition reaction and give an example (possibly write the fundamental decomposition reaction “AB → A + B” on the board). After this I will explain what a catalyst is and how the potassium iodide relates to this topic. This procedure will be (somewhat) interactive so the crowd feels more connected to the information which should increase their ability to retain the knowledge. The reaction itself will then take place (this will not take long due to the catalyst). After this, I will explain what happened, and briefly explain that it is an exothermic reaction so heat energy is produced along with the oxygen gas and water. If there is time I will answer any questions the crowd will have. This "lesson" should take roughly 3-5 minutes to complete depending on the questions asked and how well the crowd responds to the material.

The Elephant’s Dirty Teeth Story:

Once upon a time there lived an elephant named Tusky who had a very dirty set of teeth. Each day when Tusky smiled at his fellow elephants, they frowned in disgust because of his mouth. One day after many frowns, Tusky decided to take a stroll down in the forest to collect his thoughts. “How could I possibly clean these filthy teeth of mine” he asked hesitantly.

Out of nowhere a tall man with a white lab coat came around and said “I do declare! You have some very dirty teeth! But I have the perfect “solution” to your problem!” “Who are you?” asked Tusky. “Well I am a scientist who works for the Colgate Toothpaste Company! Allow me to demonstrate how I will help you.” The scientist opened his coat. He took out 3 bottles and a large graduated cylinder. “You see here Tusky, in this first bottle I have 30% hydrogen peroxide. In order for you to brush your teeth you need some water!”

“How can I get water? I live in a desert” asked the curious elephant. “Oh that’s easy! We will simply create a decomposition reaction! Once hydrogen peroxide decomposes fully, water and oxygen gas will be created!” The scientist poured the 30% hydrogen peroxide into the graduated cylinder and set it down. “In order for this to clean your teeth, we will need soap!” The scientist then opened the second bottle and poured a few drops of soap into the 30% hydrogen peroxide.

“Now for the tricky part! Here in this last bottle I have a solution that will make this hydrogen peroxide turn to oxygen gas and water instantly!” Tusky stood there amazed. “You’re full of...” “No I’m not!” interrupted the scientist. “The solution I have here is called potassium iodide. When I mix this with the hydrogen peroxide, the potassium iodide is going to rearrange all the molecules of the hydrogen peroxide and make it break-down into water and oxygen gas faster! It is also going to lower the minimum amount of energy required to start the reaction! Also known as activation energy! This is not magic, this is science! Now Tusky, as soon as I pour the potassium iodide into the hydrogen peroxide, place your mouth over the graduated cylinder; but be careful! This reaction is exothermic which means it gives off heat! You could possibly burn yourself!”

The scientist poured in the potassium iodide solution and Tusky placed his mouth over the opening of the graduated cylinder. Within seconds, the oxygen gas produced pushed the soap right into the elephant’s mouth. After it had all reacted, Tusky rinsed his mouth with the water also created by the decomposition reaction. The scientist vanished into thin air leaving Tusky the cleanest, whitest teeth in all the desert. The End


 * Note: Along with this story, the reaction would be taking place.