high school chemistry

Too Hot to Handle? Hydrogen Reacts with Oxygen on Palladium Foil

Dean Campbell | Thu, 04/28/2022 - 20:50

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The reaction of hydrogen and oxygen gases to form water is well known to be an exothermic reaction. That reaction can occur by first absorbing the hydrogen into palladium metal, and then placing the resulting palladium hydride into contact with oxygen in the air. Infrared and visible light videos were recorded for this process involving palladium foil, and the Green Chemistry and safety aspects of these activities are considered.

The Evolution of Social Media in the Chemistry Classroom

Chad Husting | Tue, 04/19/2022 - 14:29

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It can be frustrating when students are always on their phones. What if we meet them where they are at with some chemistry content? This is one teacher's journey into the world of Tik Tok.

Exploring The “Two-Faced” Thionin Reaction

Tom Kuntzleman | Tue, 04/19/2022 - 11:44

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The "Two-Faced" thionin reaction involves causing a purple solution to fade to colorless by shining light on the solution. I wondered if it could be demonstrated the color of light that caused this transition.

Updating your AP Chemistry Free Response Format

Melissa Hemling | Fri, 04/08/2022 - 10:40

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Here is a quick way to use DocHub to update the formatting of the older AP Chemistry Free Response questions so it matches the new (2021) format!

Paper Snowflakes to Model Flat Symmetrical Molecules

Dean Campbell | Wed, 04/06/2022 - 13:39

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Flat, symmetrical molecules can be modeled by folding a sheet of paper, cutting patterns into the folded structure, and unfolding to produce the flat paper models. The finished models resemble paper snowflakes, but have a variety of rotational symmetries. Template patterns for several molecules are available for download in the Supporting Information.

Virtual Professional Development: Creating Cognitively Demanding Tasks

Melissa Hemling | Mon, 03/21/2022 - 23:07

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Learn how to create cognitively demanding tasks for your classroom during this Knowles Academy virtual course.

An Education Communication About Cation-Containing Words

Dean Campbell | Mon, 03/21/2022 - 20:54

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For your enjoyment, we present lists of chemically-related words that end in the letters “-cation” but do not actually refer to the positively-charged chemical species. The lists are available for download in the Supporting Information.

Answer Keys with Wrong Answers

Josh Kenney | Fri, 03/04/2022 - 18:50

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Practice problem answer keys that provide correct and incorrect answers increase student metacognition and lead to more thorough learning.

Ionic Formula Wordle

Melissa Hemling | Tue, 03/01/2022 - 08:03

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Bring the fun of the viral word game "Wordle" into the chemistry classroom!

Is Chocolate Cake an Acid-Base Indicator? Testing a Student Claim

Josh Kenney | Mon, 02/28/2022 - 10:21

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Recently, Josh Kenney took time from his regular scheduled chemistry curriculum to investigate a student's claim that chocolate cake was an acid-base indicator.