The Arizona STEM Acceleration Project

Design a Delayed Release Tablet

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Design a Delayed Release Tablet

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A 6th grade STEM lesson

Tripti Singh

2/26/23

Notes for Teachers

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• This lesson takes place in a classroom for one or more hours.
• Students may work in small groups of 2-4.
• Students are challenged to design and build a controlled -release tablet.
• Creative solutions should be encouraged.
• Students will realize how the properties of each material affect their results.

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List of Materials:

For each student group:

• 3 transparent plastic cups, each 16 oz.
• A gallon-sized Ziploc® bag
• A small Ziploc bag
• Color My Bath Color Changing Bath Tablets, 300-Piece, 10 small tablets of each color
• Various water-soluble and water-insoluble plastic materials. Some suggestions are listed below:
• Pellon Sol-U-Film Lite Stabilizer, 12 inch by 9 Yard, 12" x 20" piece per group (water-soluble)
• Sulky 12 inch by 9 Yard Solvy Water Soluble Stabilizer Roll, 12" x 20" piece per group (water-soluble)
• Water-soluble tape 1 inch width, 3 yards per group (water-soluble)
• Regular transparent tape, 1 roll per group (water-insoluble)
• Plastic food wrap, 12" x 20" piece per group (water-insoluble)
• Transparent plastic bags, 1 gallon-sized bag per group (water-insoluble)
• Scissors
• Stopwatch

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Science Standards

Arizona Science Standards

8.P1U1.2 - Obtain and evaluate information regarding how scientists identify substances based on unique physical and chemical properties.

Next Generation Science Standards

MS-PS1-2. Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.�

MS-ETS1-3. Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success

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Objectives:

• Identify various physical properties of a polymer
• Collaboratively undertake a design project that meets specific design criteria and constraints
• Optimize a design solution based on iterative testing

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Agenda ( 60 minutes)

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In this lesson, students are challenged to design and build a delayed-release tablet, which will be made from different colored bath tablets and a variety of water-soluble plastics. Their task will be to create a tablet that releases each color from the bath tablets at a predetermined time after it has been submerged in water. Before students start making their tablets, they will have to test the properties of each of the different materials they have been given, such as their dissolution behavior in water as well as other characteristics. As students design and build their delayed-release tablets, they will realize how the structure and properties of each of their materials influence their results. At the same time, students will get insight and exposure to drug formulation and development procedures.

Prep Work (30 min)

• Set up one table on which you put all the shared materials. Make sure this table is equally accessible to everyone. If you use heat sealers that need to be plugged in, place this table close to electrical power outlets but far away from any potential water spills.
• Sort out the big colored bath tablets. You will only need small tablets for the students. Each group should get 10 small tablets of each color (yellow, red, blue). Put the tablets for each group into the small Ziploc bag and keep them separate from the rest of the materials.
• Prepare the plastic materials for each group. Cut each material, or polymer, to the right size and label it with a number. Make sure the same material gets the same number for each group. Then place all the polymers and other building materials for each student group in a gallon-sized Ziploc plastic bag. Students should keep the materials in the bag when not in use to protect them from dissolving in case of potential water spills.
• Make sure all student groups have access to a sink. To get reproducible results, use cold tap water so that the water is roughly the same temperature for each test.

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Engage

Picture

Tell students in this lesson they will learn about medication, and about how drugs are made and the materials they are made of. Then show them the picture of the different tablets.

What do you see in this picture?

What do you notice when comparing all these different tablets

Have students describe how the various tablets look. They should notice that they all look different. The tablets come in different shapes, sizes, colors, and designs. They can come in the form of pressed powders, capsules with small tablets or powder in them, or gel capsules.

Why do you think these tablets are all designed differently? For example, why do some have a plastic capsule, and some don't?

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Show students this time lapse video of different tablets dissolving:

Explore

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Tell students that today they will design and build their own delayed-release tablet. But before they do that, they will first have to select the right materials to build their tablet.

• Show students the colored bath tablets and the various plastic materials. Explain to them that the bath tablet will act as the active ingredient in their tablet. The active ingredient needs to be encapsulated in a polymer or plastic that prevents it from being released right away. They will be given various plastic materials and each one of them will vary in their properties. Their first task is to characterize, test, and select the materials that they are going to use to encapsulate their bath tablets. For these initial tests, they should use no more than a quarter from each of the material sheets. They need to keep the rest for designing and building their tablets later.
• Divide students into groups of four. Then provide each group with the plastic cups, scissors, stopwatch, and gallon-sized Ziploc® bag filled with the building materials. Do not give them the bath tablets yet.
• Instruct students to test each of the plastic materials (polymers) that they have in their gallon-sized Ziploc® bag.

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Material Property Test

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Color Judge by appearance.

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Transparency Judge by appearance.

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Tear strength Try to tear the material: How easy or difficult is it to tear?

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Water solubility Put the material in a cup filled with water: Does it dissolve? If yes, how fast does it dissolve?

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Scratch resistance Scratch the material with your fingernails: Does it leave a mark on the material? How easy or difficult is it to scratch?

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Reflect (30min)

Once students have finished testing their materials they will discuss:

What did you notice when testing all your materials?

Which material properties do you think are most important for your tablet design?

How did all of your material react in water? How do their solubilities compare?

Differentiation

• During the engineering process, ask specific questions to groups that are struggling that help them.
• Provide an observation key for the materials the students are testing without labels. This allows students to match each plastic to the description, rather than writing it out.

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Remediation

Extension/Enrichment

• If students finish early, have them test with different materials.
• Have students research more about the topic.