52 Weeks • Four Quarters • One Incredible Future
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Chemical engineering is not just test tubes and lab chemistry—it is chemistry at scale. It combines chemistry, physics, and algebra to design processes that turn raw materials into useful products safely and efficiently.
This 52-week curriculum is divided into four 13-week quarters. Each weekly assignment pairs a core engineering concept with a hands-on kitchen experiment, an algebra connection, or a design challenge.
| Week | Topic | Weekly Assignment & Activity |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | What is ChemE? | Compare a chemist (makes 5 mL of perfume) vs. a chemical engineer (designs a plant producing 50,000 L/day). Draw a block diagram of making orange juice. |
| 2 | Units & Dimensional Analysis | Convert everyday measurements using unit cancellation tracks (miles/hr to ft/s; grams to kilograms; mL to liters). |
| 3 | Precision & Lab Safety | Learn tare weight, significant figures, and meniscus reading using a digital kitchen scale and measuring cylinders. |
| 4 | Density Columns | Calculate density (ρ = m/V) of five household liquids (honey, dish soap, water, oil, rubbing alcohol) and layer them. |
| 5 | Concentration & Dilution | Mix drink powders at 5%, 10%, and 20% mass concentration; calculate parts per million (ppm). |
| 6 | Conservation of Mass | Dissolve baking soda in vinegar in a closed plastic bag vs. an open cup; weigh before and after to prove gas has mass. |
| 7 | Mass Balances: The Mixer | Solve input/output balances: If Stream A has 10% salt and Stream B has 0% salt, calculate the blend's final concentration. |
| 8 | States of Matter & Phase Diagrams | Map temperature over time while heating ice to boiling; graph the plateau phases where latent heat is absorbed. |
| 9 | Pressure & Hydraulics | Connect two different-sized plastic syringes with tubing filled with water; demonstrate Pascal's principle and mechanical advantage. |
| 10 | Atmospheric Pressure & Vacuums | Crush an aluminum soda can using steam condensation and cold water plunge; explain pressure differentials. |
| 11 | Gas Laws (Boyle & Charles) | Inflate a balloon inside a cold freezer vs. warm water bath; measure volume changes and graph the relationship. |
| 12 | Intro to Process Flow Diagrams (PFD) | Learn standard PFD symbols (valves, pumps, tanks, mixers); map out the plumbing and water flow of your house. |
| 13 | Quarter 1 Capstone Project | Build a "Salt Recovery Plant": Dissolve a known mass of salt and sand in water, design a physical separation process, and calculate percentage yield. |
| Week | Topic | Weekly Assignment & Activity |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | Conduction & Thermal Conductivity | Place butter pats on spoons made of metal, wood, and plastic in hot water; time the melt rates to rank conductivity. |
| 15 | Convection Currents | Float colored ice cubes in warm water; document and sketch the convection currents that drive fluid circulation. |
| 16 | Radiation & Surface Coatings | Measure cooling rates of hot water in cans painted matte black vs. wrapped in reflective aluminum foil. |
| 17 | Specific Heat Capacity | Heat equal masses of water and vegetable oil for 60 seconds; measure temperature rise and calculate why water is a superior coolant. |
| 18 | Heat Exchangers (Counter-Current Flow) | Coil plastic tubing through a large ice-water bucket; pump warm water through to demonstrate shell-and-tube cooling. |
| 19 | Exothermic Reactions | Mix yeast, hydrogen peroxide, and dish soap (Elephant Toothpaste); measure temperature spikes over 5 minutes. |
| 20 | Endothermic Reactions | React citric acid (or lemon juice) with baking soda; track the temperature drop and calculate heat absorbed. |
| 21 | Insulation Engineering Challenge | Design an insulated container using household scrap to keep a 1-oz ice cube frozen under a desk lamp for 90 minutes. |
| 22 | Evaporative Cooling | Wrap a thermometer in a damp paper towel and swing it; calculate the wet-bulb temperature vs. dry-bulb temperature. |
| 23 | Thermal Expansion | Build a simple liquid thermometer using a narrow straw, rubbing alcohol, food dye, and a sealed bottle. |
| 24 | Boiling Point Elevation | Measure boiling points of pure water vs. saturated saltwater; relate boiling shifts to molecular solute interactions. |
| 25 | Freezing Point Depression | Make ice cream in a bag using rock salt and ice; explain why roads are salted in winter. |
| 26 | Quarter 2 Capstone Project | Design and calibrate a benchtop "beverage cooler" capable of dropping 250 mL of 80°C water to under 30°C within 3 minutes. |
| Week | Topic | Weekly Assignment & Activity |
|---|---|---|
| 27 | Viscosity & Flow Resistance | Measure flow rates of water, olive oil, syrup, and honey through funnels; calculate relative dynamic viscosity. |
| 28 | Non-Newtonian Fluids | Mix cornstarch and water (Oobleck); investigate shear-thickening behavior under rapid vs. slow impact forces. |
| 29 | Laminar vs. Turbulent Flow | Inject colored dye into slow-flowing water vs. high-speed turbulent water inside clear plastic tubing. |
| 30 | Bernoulli's Principle | Suspend two ping-pong balls from strings 2 inches apart; blow air between them and explain the inward pressure drop. |
| 31 | Siphons & Head Pressure | Build a continuous siphon tube; calculate how elevation head (h) impacts discharge flow rates. |
| 32 | Friction Loss in Pipes | Measure water flow time through a straight 2-foot tube vs. a coiled 2-foot tube to observe wall shear stress. |
| 33 | Filtration & Pore Sizing | Build a multi-tier gravel, sand, and activated charcoal water filter; test turbidity reductions on muddy water. |
| 34 | Centrifugal Separation | Build a hand-crank or salad-spinner centrifuge; separate chalk suspension from water to model industrial decanters. |
| 35 | Diffusion & Fick's Law | Drop food coloring into hot vs. cold water without stirring; time diffusion rates to model molecular transport. |
| 36 | Surface Tension & Surfactants | Float a paperclip on water; add one drop of dish soap to break surface tension and model industrial surfactants. |
| 37 | Capillary Action | Place celery stalks or white carnations into colored dye; measure fluid rise height over 24 hours. |
| 38 | Chromatography | Separate black marker pigments on coffee filter strips using isopropyl alcohol; calculate retention factors (R_f). |
| 39 | Quarter 3 Capstone Project | Build a gravity-fed micro-pipeline: Transport 500 mL of water through at least two 90-degree turns into a settling basin within a target flow time. |
| Week | Topic | Weekly Assignment & Activity |
|---|---|---|
| 40 | Reaction Rates & Surface Area | React whole effervescent antacid tablets vs. crushed powder in equal water volumes; graph reaction times. |
| 41 | Reaction Rates & Temperature | Dissolve glow sticks in hot, room-temp, and ice water; measure light output degradation over time. |
| 42 | Catalysts | Decompose hydrogen peroxide with and without a manganese dioxide (or potato slice) catalyst; compare gas release rates. |
| 43 | Polymers & Cross-Linking | Make slime using PVA glue and borax solution; explain monomer linking, elasticity, and polymer chains. |
| 44 | Biochemical Reactors (Fermentation) | Feed yeast sugar solutions at varying concentrations; measure carbon dioxide balloon inflation volume over 2 hours. |
| 45 | Corrosion & Oxidation | Submerge steel nails in water, saltwater, vinegar, and oil; inspect rust formation over 7 days and discuss protective coatings. |
| 46 | Electrolysis & Green Hydrogen | Submerge two pencils connected to a 9V battery in saltwater; observe hydrogen and oxygen bubbles at the electrodes. |
| 47 | Scale-Up Challenges | Bake a single cupcake, then scale the recipe by 10×; document why baking time, heat transfer, and mixing don't scale linearly. |
| 48 | Process Safety & Fail-Safes | Research the 1984 Bhopal disaster; identify three mechanical fail-safes (pressure relief valves, rupture disks, scrubbers). |
| 49 | Process Economics | Calculate the raw material costs, electricity use, and yield losses of making 1 gallon of homemade lemonade to determine break-even price. |
| 50 | Environmental Engineering & Scrubbers | Model an industrial flue gas scrubber by bubbling vinegar/smoke vapor through a baking soda solution trap. |
| 51 | Plant Layout & Piping Systems | Use graph paper or 3D block-building software to design an industrial water purification facility with logical flow paths. |
| 52 | Final Comprehensive Design Presentation | Present a complete Process Flow Diagram (PFD), mass balance sheet, and hazard safety analysis for a scaled-up product of their choice. |
Focus heavily on ratios, proportions, balancing multi-step linear equations, and interpreting x-y line graphs.
Teach basic spreadsheet software (Google Sheets or Excel) early—tracking their experimental data in rows and graphing trendlines is the primary tool of professional process engineers.
Have them record every assignment with: Hypothesis, Materials, Data Table, and Process Flow Diagram.