If it's time for you to do some planning for a unit on bonding and/or nomenclature, this post if for you. To help with the planning of this unit, I have pulled together a list of posts to provide a bonding and nomenclature springboard. There is much more that can be found, but think of this as a really good starting point. You will find posts linked below that cover everything from broad-view thoughts on the unit holistically to ready-to-go printouts for student-facing activities. Take a look, and let us know your favorites in a comment.
Planning the Unit
If you are looking for a new way to think about teaching bonding, check out these three posts that take three very different approaches to teaching a bonding unit, plus a robust discussion on developing learning targets, which includes several bonding examples in the discussion.
- Reflections on Choice Boards in the Chemistry Classroom by Stephanie O’Brien
- Nomenclature - A Project Based Learning Experience by Anthony Stetzenmeyer
- Bonding Interactive Notebook by Nora Walsh
- Developing Learning Targets and Structuring Assessments by Ben Meacham
Teaching Thoughts
If you are seeking out support in your own understanding of bonding and how to teach it, these resources take a wide-scale look at how to think about bonding and how to frame it for the learners in your classroom.
- Struggles with Bonding…Making It Simple… by Chad Husting
- Chemical Bonding and Naming with Nora Walsh (Professional Development video)
- AP Teach - To Bond or Not to Bond - scroll to Sept 19, 2024 notes
Modeling Bonding Concepts
These posts have different ways to think about modeling various concepts of bonding to support student understanding.
- Modeling the Concept of Ionic Bonding by Ben Meacham
- Interactive Bonding Resources from PBS by Erica Posthuma
- An Upcycled Teaching Aid for Ionic Formulas by Jerry Godbout
- Making Chemistry Visible with Doug Ragan (Professional Development recording)
Labs and Demos
- Nomenclature by Chad Husting
Assessment
- Assessment Tools to Examine Students’ Reasoning with Multiple Representations of Bonding with Stacey Lowery Bretz (Professional Development video)
- Card Sorts…What to do next?...and Happy Accidents by Chad Husting
Deeper Dives into Subtopics
In the list below, you’ll find a deeper dive into some of the subtopics within bonding units.
Nomenclature
- Exploring Nomenclature by Ashley Green
- Nomenclature and Chemistry Poker by Chad Husting
- Using a Gallery Walk inquiry activity to guide students through naming binary ionic compounds with variable charges by Nora Walsh
Ionic and Covalent Bonding
- Ionic Speed Dating by Deanna Cullen
Lewis Structures and VSEPR
- Lewis Dot Structures…A Closer Look by Chad Husting
- Dust Off Your Molecule Kits! By Melissa Hemling
- Examining VSEPR Through Cross-cutting Concept of Patterns by Stephanie O'Brien
- Some of my Favorite Things for VSEPR by Melissa Hemling
- Geometric Approach to Lewis Structures by Lauren Stewart
- VSEPR Flat Packs: An Economical Model Kit by Kathryn Rust
Fun Extras
If you just want a fun new thing to weave into a solid plan, check out this quick brain break activity:
- Ionic Formula Wordle by Melissa Hemling
If you need a moment of music, this song from A Capella Science is well done:
- The Molecular Shape of You (Ed Sheeran Parody)
ChemEd X Collections:
Additional resources from beyond ChemEd X:
American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT) - membership required
Ionic Bonding Puzzle - printed manipulative and online game
PhET
TED-Ed
How Atoms Bond by George Zaidan and Charles Morton
What is the shape of a molecule? by George Zaidan and Charles Morton