From diluted to over-saturated solutions, the Chemistry Honors class prepares five different Kool-Aid drinks. Students look forward to this lab every year because they get to actually taste the reaction they make.
“The Kool-Aid lab is really great,” Chemistry Honors teacher Stacie Smith said. “It’s fun, it’s high energy, [so] students are really excited to be in the lab.”
For most chemical reactions, goggles and other safety equipment are required, but this lab is designed to make learning fun.
“It was just an enjoyable time, because we got to play around with the different flavors and the different concentrations of Kool-Aid while making it ourselves,” Brynn Sheeley ’27 said.
Jadarian Stringer’s ’27 favorite memory was testing out the different combinations.
“My favorite part was probably just getting to try different Kool-Aid flavors, seeing which ones we like better, and being able to do things with friends,” they said.
This is why most students look forward to the lab.
“Most labs we do, students aren’t allowed to taste, smell, or consume the lab reactants, so when we get to the part of the year where students are able to have confidence in their math calculation to make sure we’re getting measurements right, we can do consumable labs,” Smith said. “It’s really, really exciting.”
As a long-standing City High teacher, Smith has earned the Silver Salute, which celebrates 25 years of service. She started her career teaching Earth & Space Science, but switched over to teaching Chemistry after a short period of time. “I have been doing this particular lab, or some version it, for 20 years,” Smith said.
Over those twenty years, the Kool-Aid lab has developed into what it is today, becoming an annual tradition for Chemistry Honors classes.
