Some Boats Don't Float

This is just a heads up about next week's lesson for the Consumed series. The project "Some Boats Don't Float" probably is a good one to avoid, from a safety standpoint, from a consumer standpoint and also from an environmental standpoint. I tend to think that acetone and children don't mix well, but that's just my opinion.

First of all, acetone should only be used in well ventilated areas, and people using it should wear goggles -- if it splashes in the eye it can blind, causing "cornea clouding". I know that none of the downstairs rooms are well ventilated, and there are always children who will not follow directions or get in harms-way because they're being silly.

Second of all, if you put it in a glass baking dish that baking dish would need to be either disposed -- ideally because you're not supposed to rinse this stuff down a drain -- or never used again for baking. So, as far as being a consumer goes, you've bought a glass pan that's now useless and you've bought a container of acetone that isn't useful for anything else.

Thirdly, the sheet on the activity only goes half way with disposal. If the acetone goes into the ground or down a drain, it will pollute our ground water. Acetone needs to be disposed of in kitty litter and then taken to a contained landfill (one that accepts toxic waste). So, you shouldn't put it at the curb for rumpke.

I do lots of science experiments with my kids. They define chemistry as the subject that means blowing stuff up! However, this seems like not a good situation for a sunday school lesson, and I would be concerned about the health and safety of my own kids in a classroom where this was being done if all the necessary safety precautions weren't taken. We're already missing limbs, I don't really want to lose any eyes!!!