Free Interactive Tool — No Login Required
Teacher's Guide: Interactive Chemistry Lab
The Interactive Chemistry Lab lets students build compounds from any of the 118 elements, save them to a personal library, then mix compounds in a virtual beaker. Students observe fire, explosions, foam, crystallization, and other reactions while tracking live temperature, pH, and pressure readouts — safely, without any physical reagents.
What Students Practice
- Identifying and combining elements by symbol and name
- Observing and categorizing chemical reactions (exothermic, endothermic, acid-base)
- Interpreting live pH, temperature, and pressure data during reactions
- Understanding states of matter changes — solid, liquid, gas, plasma
- Building intuition about chemical properties before formal lab work
Standards Alignment
- NGSS MS-PS1-2 — Analyze and interpret data on properties of substances before and after reactions
- NGSS HS-PS1-6 — Refine the design of a chemical system to demonstrate different types of reactions
- NGSS HS-PS1-7 — Use mathematical representation to support claims about atomic conservation
- CCSS.ELA RST.6-8.3 — Follow multi-step procedures in technical texts
Classroom Tips
- Use as a prediction activity: students hypothesize what will happen before mixing, then observe and compare
- Ideal for demonstrating reactions that are impractical or unsafe in a real lab (alkali metals, combustion)
- Pairs well with a lab report template — students record reaction type, observations, and data readings
- The compound builder teaches chemical notation; students write the formula for each compound they create
- Works well on Chromebooks and tablets for 1:1 or paired exploration
What grade levels is this designed for?
The lab is accessible for Grades 6–8 middle school science and scales through high school chemistry (Grades 9–12) and AP Chemistry. The open-ended exploration format works at any level — younger students explore reactions visually while older students focus on quantitative pH and temperature data.
Are the reactions scientifically accurate?
The reactions are modeled to reflect real chemical behavior — acid-base reactions lower pH, combustion raises temperature, certain combinations produce gas. The lab simplifies some physical chemistry for accessibility but does not produce scientifically incorrect outcomes.
Can students save their compounds between sessions?
Compounds saved to the student's library are stored in the browser's local storage. They persist between sessions on the same device but do not sync across devices or require an account.