Objectives: 1. Students will differentiate among types of esters and describe the esterification reaction. 2. Students will successfully demonstrate an increased understanding of esters by completing a lab exercise.

Materials: -Textbook -Whiteboard -Handouts -Synthesis kit containing esters, alcohols and acids (optional)

Procedure: 1. Introduce esters by asking students to define the term. (Answer: An ester is an organic compound derived from the reaction between an acid and alcohol, with the release of water as a product.) 2. Provide a brief lecture on the esterification reaction, its product and applications. 3. Ask students to identify different types of esters based on their structure. (Answer: Fruity esters, sweet esters, menthol esters, etc.) 4. Generate examples of esters, such as ethyl acetate, ethyl ethanoate, propyl acetate, etc. 5. Provide a demonstration of how to synthesize an ester. 6. Divide students into groups and assign each group a synthesis kit which contains various esters, alcohols, and acids. 7. Give each group a set of instructions to guide them through the synthesis of an ester. 8. Have students engage in a review activity by building molecules out of molecular modeling kits.

Assessment: 1. Ask students questions to gauge their understanding of esters during the lecture portion. 2. Observe students as they synthesize an ester and give feedback on their work. 3. Have students turn in their synthesis kits and assign a grade based on the quality of their products. 4. Grade students based on their completion of the molecular modeling activity.