Many times, I've done a "Smell-a-Vision" lesson with my students based on GC-MS data on terpenes from citrus fruits, herbs, and flowers collected from around campus. This year, I plan to use Mr. Sketch markers as a source of the aromas. Students will be given either percent composition or combustion analysis data, together with the molecular weight, and asked to determine empirical and molecular formulas.
The implementation could have been smoother, it was really difficult to hand out 36 markers of different aroma and the corresponding papers. If I had to do this activity again, I would have spent more time preparing the markers and papers (already matched up) and had a corresponding seating chart (plan to distribute). With a class of ~80 students, there were pairs and groups of 3. I ended up taking about 15 minutes to distribute the activity which only left 5 minutes for students to work on the problems. I made it a take-home extra-credit assignment, so there's no telling how students will get the problem solved.
