Making connections to the real world is what every teacher wishes her students could do.  What better way to show them than “breaking down the walls” and bringing her students to the real world.  As other students were preparing for their Christmas Break, Ms. Kimmy and Mrs. Julie brought 5 AP Chem students to Suan Phueng in Ratchaburi province on Dec.21-23, 2015.  The purpose of the trip was to do an in situ measurement of the hardness of water from the Bu Klueng Hot Spring.  Applying the titration lab skills they learned at school, Friend, Thomas, Tee Tee, Kuan Ting and Tiger determined the amount of Calcium as Calcium Carbonate in water samples from three different areas of the hot spring.  Students compared and evaluated their results and drew their conclusion together afterwards.  They further investigated whether the concentration of Ca as CaCO3 would change as the water travel from the mainspring to the two pools.  It was not all work for the students and teachers, they also visited the Alpaca Hill and enjoyed playing with the alpacas, macaws, deer and other  unusual animals such as the capybaras.  Wonderful memories were made during the trip! Thomas summed it all when he said, “ Thank you, Ms. Kimmy for arranging this trip.  This is by far the most wonderful trip I’ve ever had at TCIS!”