Tabletop RPG Classroom: In-Game Chemistry Experiments for Middle School Kids
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- General structuring for teaching chemistry with TTRPGs
- TTRPG chemistry lesson for middle school kids
General structuring for teaching chemistry with tabletop role-playing games
First! If you’ve already read part 1 of this series, which covered elementary school chemistry classes, much of this next explanation will be similar to the general structuring section in that post, and you can go here to skip ahead to the middle school chemistry experiment (the new part)!
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Before we get to the example, we’re going to cover some general tips for structuring your game around a lesson or educational goal. Much of this will be similar to any subject that you’re teaching (not just for chemistry lessons and not just for middle school kids). This means that if you’re here looking for general TTRPG classroom info, much of this can be applicable to any class, after school group, or game!
I’m covering this all before the middle school TTRPG example because it is important to understand the basics for how the example is structured and why we’re doing things the way we are (so that you can take this material and extrapolate it for your particular kids and lessons).
Setting your game’s educational goal(s)
When it comes to setting up intentionally educational TTRPGs, before you start coming up with plots and mechanics, and even educational content, you first need to figure out what your goals for your students are since this is going to be what we want to build everything else around.
You don’t want to be trying to shoehorn a concept into an existing game or story idea that doesn’t really fit… and then losing the focus on what you want to teach.
Pick one to two core goals that you hope to accomplish with the tabletop RPG that you’re introducing to your class.
What is the purpose of introducing this game?
For chemistry experiments with middle school kids, these concepts could be something like “understand how different types of chemicals interact” or “understand a chemical’s impact on the environment” or “write a basic chemical equation”. There’s a range here with topics being purely academic to topics that focus on general big picture concepts with science, so think about your situation and pick a couple that work for your group and that you think could be helped by working into a TTRPG.
Paying attention to your game’s focus
Next, once you have your goal to build from, you’re probably going to start thinking of the game system that you’ll use and the story that you’ll make to surround the topic(s) you chose.
As you do this, make sure to keep the focus on teaching your goal.
If you pick a complex game system that takes several weeks to learn, you could be diverting your students’ focus and time from the core goal (learning about chemistry) and instead putting it on learning about this particular game system… which is not your goal.
If, like in the example below, you have a small group and everyone already knows D&D, then go ahead and use it! They don’t need to devote any additional cognitive load to learning a new game (they already have the context), and using a known system may actually be easier than switching to a new, rules-lite, system.
For some subjects (like in this interview with D&D teacher Kade Wells), systems like D&D can be great for teaching English and reading because they require critical reading skills to understand, and it provides necessary motivation, so that system meets the goals of the class.
However, if not everyone goes in knowing that system, choose a game system that lets students focus on learning the chemistry class goal that you set. This could mean just using a 1d6 system or drawing cards from a deck of standard playing cards for randomization, and that’s OK.
When you’re creating your adventure, watch this as well. Keep your lesson modular (you probably don’t have time to get into a ton of lore and still keep it within a typical class period), so run quick one-shots or have a few short sessions spread out over a few classes… then end there. It doesn’t need to be a full epic campaign to get your educational goals across, and you want students focusing more on the educational concepts anyway.
Include three points of contact with the subject material in your TTRPG
If you look at stories ranging from fairy tales to present day children’s tv shows, when a new concept is being taught, it’s often presented at least three times (think of how The Boy Who Cried Wolf repeated its theme or how Bluey reiterates topics throughout the episode).
This is because we need to interact with something more than once for it to sink in. When teaching, you should also reiterate some of the topics a few times to make sure they stick and students have had enough time to process and absorb the material.
When you look at the example below, watch for the three points of contact and how they drive the core goal home over and over so the concept of things changing when you mix them or observing how things are in their current state can be explored more than once.
Build your chemistry experiment examples into each other and the TTRPG
With those three points of contact, you’ll also want to make sure that they are both built into each other (so they’re related and connected) and that they’re part of the story and/or mechanics that you have included in your tabletop RPG.
Tying them tightly into the game creates the connection that you’re looking for between your players and the material, and it’s the whole point of doing this! So, make sure that your story and your science experiments match!
Now, this all can seem like a lot to watch out for, but it’s really just a few points:
- Determine your educational goal
- Keep your mechanics and story simple and focused on the goal
- Use your goal at least three times
- Connect your game ideas to the goal
To help show how to do this specifically for middle school kids, here’s an example lesson that teaches about measuring and experimenting with pH!
Example TTRPG chemistry lesson for middle school kids (8-12)
Goals, context, and mechanics for your middle school TTRPG chemistry lesson
Context: homeschooled group of 5 children already involved in a regular D&D group; parent wants to integrate chemistry lesson into existing D&D campaign
Goal: (1) Understand pH and (2) observe how acids and bases react to each other
Mechanics: D&D (since students already know the system)
Experiments: Use pH testing strips to find the pH of known solutions, measure pH of unknown solutions to solve a puzzle, combine an acid and a base of known pH until they reach zero.
First point of contact: Experiment with pH testing strips
In this example, our first point of contact to understand what pH is will be to start with just measuring pH of various, safe, household solutions.
For the game’s story: your players’ characters are sent to a swamp witch’s hut for training in potion making before heading into a set of ruins that were once a potion master’s old lab. They have been told that the lab is leaking toxic vapors that are seeping towards the nearby town. Previous heroes caved in the entrance to the lab, but it did not stop the vapors. The group will need to stop the leak at its source.
The party goes to a swamp witch for a protection spell to help them get through the vapors and to the lab, but she refuses to give them the spell until they are trained with the knowledge they’ll need for their quest. The witch pulls out about a dozen bottles of various liquids and tells the party to measure their “pH”antasticness using magical pH testing strips. It will be critical to record and remember these solutions to be able to assess the situation in the ruins.
Get pH testing strips and measuring kits (like this 6-pack for $6)
Prepare labeled cups or bottles with safe household solutions that the group can measure. These can include solutions like: vinegar, milk, water, different sodas or drinks, lemon juice, orange juice, baking soda (in solution), soapy water, antacid (like pepto bismol), rubbing alcohol, etc. Do not use ammonia or other bathroom cleaners since mixing them later has a higher risk to create actual toxic vapors. The solutions that you choose do not have to all be strong acids or bases, and having some that are 7 pH (like water) can be good for showing the full range of pH.
Have students write down the name of the solution, measure the pH, and write down the pH for each solution. Emphasize that they will need this later!!
Once students have completed this, explain to them what an acid and a base are on the pH scale and ask them what they thought about the numbers they got.
Ask them to note the most acidic and the most basic solutions. Ask them to note if anything is at or around zero pH. See if they have any other observations about where different solutions compare on the scale.
Second point of contact: pH matching puzzle
For our second point of contact with the material, and to move into applying some of what you’ve already taught about pH, we’re going to have a puzzle to solve in the middle of the dungeon!
After players have completed their training with the swamp witch, she casts the spell to protect them from the vapors, helps them enter the ruins, and wishes them luck with their task. After facing some challenges in the “lab”yrinthian lab, they come across a doorway to the heart of the lab, however, it is sealed. On the door, there are four sealed vials, each with a space beneath to write the correct solution.
To solve the puzzle, the party will need to unseal the vials, measure their pH, and match it to the known pH’s that they have from the activity at the witch’s hut.
To run this puzzle, you’ll need to have four containers, each with a different solution in them. If you want to hide some of the properties of the solution (like color, opacity, and smell) so students have to use pH to determine the answer, you can use sealed containers with a slit cut in the top for inserting a pH strip OR you could use solutions that all look the same (i.e. white vinegar, water, rubbing alcohol, and premixed baking soda solution are all fairly clear).
If players write the correct name under the vials, the door will unlock with no issues! If they do not write the correct name, they trigger a trap!
Once the puzzle is complete, point out how pH is a property that can help us determine what the material is when our visual observations aren’t enough. It can help us identify a solution or see if something is up with a known solution (like if we know we have water but the pH is high, we know something else is mixed into it).
Third point of contact: Save the day with science! (mix a potion for a spell)
Once in the lab, students will be able to explore the potion master’s lab.
Depending on the age and tolerance of your players, you could have them find the skeleton of the potion master to imply that the vapors from his experiments got to him (which can impress the importance of chemistry safety later. You can also leave this part out depending on your safety tools and your player’s comfort levels with finding skeletons or departed NPCs.
The source of the vapors seems to be coming from a large contraption in the corner that appears to be on automatic. Clear magically refilling and protected tanks are filled with various solutions and feed into a vat beneath. The controls seem to be jammed, allowing the party to only add materials. The machine is currently eternally refreshing the large vat with a solution that gives off strong vapors.
The party will need to use one of the other solutions to neutralize the solution in the tank. This means they’ll need to add another solution to get the pH to 7 (neutral).
To run this puzzle, provide a container filled with a stinky, but safe, liquid. I recommend using white vinegar, which is fairly acidic and has an obvious smell. Then, provide players with several other SAFE solutions that they can mix with the vinegar, like lemon juice, baking soda solution, milk, water, etc. so they can see what they do. Include some acids and some bases. Have students measure the pH as they go and mix until they get the pH to 7 (neutral), which is where they can permanently set the machine.
During the experiment, note when reactions, aside from pH shifts, occur as well (like formation of bubbles or curdling of milk).
The main points are that acids and bases can neutralize each other with respect to pH AND that they can have interesting reactions or byproducts.
Also note that mixing two solutions, regardless of if they are an acid + base, can sometimes still be harmful (i.e. giving off real toxic vapors), so you should look up if it is safe to mix two solutions before doing so. Give the example of toilet cleaner (usually containing bleach, pH 11-13) and glass cleaners (often containing ammonia, pH 11-13) – even though they have the same pH, they still kick off a chemical reaction that releases highly toxic chloramine gas. People have tried to “combine their cleaning power” to clean a particularly dirty toilet and have been severely hurt by this before. (again modulate this based on your group’s tolerance) Maybe something like this happened with the potion maker…
After completing the puzzle, explain how the vapors start to fade as you’ve neutralized their source and let them complete the quest, celebrate, and collect any rewards they are due!
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What’s shown here can be modified to fit your class and other types of experiments, and it’s meant to be a springboard for other ideas. I hope it helps to show a sample tabletop RPG lesson outline for either direct use in your classes (homeschooled or in a group schooled setting) or to spark some inspiration for other ideas, and let me know in the comments if you use this or have ideas of your own!
Stay tuned for future lessons as well – the next “Tabletop RPG Classroom” article will cover high school chemistry lessons, and you can check out my previous article on elementary school chemistry lessons here. These examples collectively feature different educational settings, game systems, and subject variations to help round out the examples and show how it can be scaled to fit the needs of different kids.
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