The Easter Problem in the Holmes family: a narrative, everyday-life laboratory activity on proteins and food dyes, and its evaluation by chemistry teachers

Abstract This study presents “The Easter Problem in the Holmes Family”, a narrative, everyday-life laboratory activity on proteins and food dyes, and examines how chemistry teachers ( N = 39) evaluate it. The activity uses Easter egg dyeing as an everyday-life context, Easter traditions as a cultural frame, and a Sherlock Holmes narrative. During the workshop, teachers carried out three tests (foam stability, fluorescence, and reaction with Cu 2+ ions) to distinguish three blue samples and to construct an explanation of the case. A Google Form, used as both a worksheet and a questionnaire, collected demographic data, information on teachers’ practices and views of laboratory work and its applications, as well as their evaluation of the workshop. Data were analysed descriptively with non-parametric tests and Spearman correlations. Teachers reported frequent use of laboratory work, strongly agreed that it helps students connect chemistry with everyday-life and identified time and resources as major challenges. The Holmes activity was rated as effective, safe, feasible, and engaging. The findings suggest that the workshop can serve as a practical, adaptable model for combining narrative and culturally familiar contexts with low-cost experimental work, while also illustrating how digital tools such as Google Forms can support both instruction and teacher professional development.