Petri Dishes Research

First, the students label the petri dishes, with the elements Mg, Ca, and Al. Next, the students place the different elements on the top of the petri dishes and then filled the dishes with water. After that, they placed each element in the water and put the top on and recorded what happened. Then they opened the dish a put a drop of phenolphthalein on each element and recorded the reaction. The students discovered that sodium and magnesium reacted, but aluminum did not. Sodium turned into a gas when it touched water and then turned pink with the phenolphthalein. Magnesium bubbled with the water and then turned slightly pink with the phenolphthalein. Aluminium had no reaction to the water or to the phenolphthalein. After that, the students washed out the petri dishes and dried them.
Then the students turned on the burners and lit each element and held it over the petri dishes, so the ashes would fall into the dish. Then the students added a drop of phenolphthalein to each dish and recorded the reaction. The students figured out that both elements (magnesium and sodium) reacted and turned pink. After that, the students added a drop of phenolphthalein to the aluminum, and it once again had no reaction. After the students reacted their findings, the students washed the contents of each dish down the drain, washed the dishes and dried