Project Title: Breaking Bad Boom: Why cooking meth is not a good idea.

Page 1 of 2
Author(s): Isabel Storch

1. Essential Standards 2. Key Facts From Problem 3. Possible Solutions 4. Learning Outcomes
These are the standards your problem
will address. A PBL can address and
integrate one or multiple essential
standards.

Chm.2.2
Analyze chemical reactions in
terms of quantities, product
formation, and energy.

Chm.3.1
Understand the factors affecting
rate of reaction and chemical
equilibrium.
















This refers to the major facts from your
problem. What are the major ideas
students should pull from your problem.

The production of the illegal
drug methamphetamine is an
extremely dangerous process,
that often provokes the
explosion of the lab and the
cook/chemist.
In fact, most of these labs are
actually discovered by the police
when they blow up, and also for
the bad smell of some of the
dangerous chemicals involved in
the process.

On the consumer end, drugs that
are produced without the
adequate quality control
systems pose a great human
health risk not only for
poisoning and intoxication, but
also for overdose.





This is a guess for what you hope students
will discover as a solution to the problem.

The tremendous risk involved in
the preparation of illegal drugs
does not compensate the financial
benefit.


The high risk for health of
consuming illegally produced
drugs makes them unappealing
for consumption: better stick to
what is legal.


They will prepare a presentation
making arguments against the
production of methamphetamine,
and against the consumption of
illegal drugs in general.
These are the facts you hope students
will learn through the PBL process.
These differ from standards, as they are
specific to what you hope students will
be able to do and understand.

Students will learn what an
exothermic reaction is, and the
factors that affect it. (how the
reaction rate can be affected by
temperature, and controlled by
reducing temperature).

Also, they will learnt that the
generation of gases in a reaction
is a driving force that may
displace the equilibrium.

Students will learn what an
explosive reaction is, and when
and why an exothermic reaction
can become an explosive
reaction.

Also, they will learn about
purity and contaminants, how
drugs are diluted in the
pharmaceutical industry,
opposed to in the black market.



Project Title: Breaking Bad Boom: Why cooking meth is not a good idea. Page 2 of 2
Author(s): Isabel Storch

5. Problem/Scenario
6. General Notes
and Driving Questions
7. Resources for Learning
8. Final Products and
Assessment Tools
This is the actual problem or scenario
you will present to students. It should
be detailed and realistic.

As Jesse Pinkman recovers from
his injuries, he makes up his
mind. He is quitting the meth
cooking business. He just blew
up his new R.V, and almost died.
He should have know better and
followed Walter Whites advice,
but he had to learn the hard
way: by himself. Now he is
worried that his mates will blow
up any day, so he sets up to
convince them to quite the
cooking business. Can he make a
compelling argument for their
colleagues?
It would be great having Walter
Whites help to understand
what is so wrong with the
cooking process, but the guy is,
vanished. Anyway, he was never
too good at making science
understandable to the common
person. Can you help Jesse to
make some points?

.
General notes about the problem that
might be pertinent to understanding the
problem.

As a chemist, Walter
understands the reactions
involved in the process, and its
dangers. He is able to synthesize
the most pure (and powerful)
meth that has ever hit the
Albuquerque market.
Why is cooking meth
dangerous?

Which reaction occurs that is
dangerous?

Why is this reaction explosive?

Which gas is generated in this
reaction?

How do pharmaceutical
companies/chemists deal with
this type of reactions?


What resources will you supply students
with for learning and discovery?

The chemistry of Breaking Bad
(http://www.chemistryviews.org
/details/ezine/5416791/The_Ch
emistry_of_Breaking_Bad.html)

Making Crystal Meth (is not
smart) - Breaking Bad
http://chemistry.about.com/b/2
008/01/30/making-crystal-
meth-breaking-bad.htm

Killing gangsters with Phosphine
gas
(http://www.rsc.org/images/bre
aking-bad-phosphine-gas_tcm18-
233821.pdf)

Can a little crystal blow up a
room?
(http://www.rsc.org/images/The
-Mole-Nov2012-Breaking-
Bad_tcm18-223751.pdf)

Getting the Chemistry Right on
Breaking Bad
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=FWgAvSGE5_U
This is the end goal of the PBL. How
will students product be evaluated?

Students will be assessed both
formally and informally during
the execution of the project.

Formal Assessment. Summative.
The students will prepare a
YouTube video summarizing the
risks of cooking meth, as well as
the consumption of illegal drugs
in general.

Informal Assessment.
The teacher will check for
understanding of the formal
concepts of reaction rate and
chemical purity, and will
facilitate its comprehension.