This week I had the opportunity to attend part 2 of a 3 day PD for Gizmos, courtesy of a district grant working with ExploreLearning. In a room full of middle school science colleagues (half of whom I knew), I was able to glean a ton of great information.
What surprised you most about class last week? What do you think was the muddiest point in class last week? These two questions are part of an article that caught my eye in the November 2016 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education—Surprises in the Muddy Waters of High-Enrollment Courses.
Science is cool. It allows us to step back and reason why things are the way they are. Most importantly it fuels us to keep questioning why. Asking why is an important aspect of learning, and is a huge part of the way classrooms run, on average a teacher will ask 300-400 questions just in a day (Vogler 2008)! However, what happens when a student does not have the correct answer to a question? Are they deemed wrong? Is it a misconception that we must fix?
AMTA will be hosting a distance learning Chemistry 2 course that will run from January 19th -April 27 (15 weeks), with an open house to prepare with technology on January 12th. It will be led by expert chemistry modeling leaders Larry Dukerich and Brenda Royce. The course develops on an evidence-based approach to the internal structure of the atom, periodicity and covalent bonding, intermolecular forces, equilibrium and acids and bases.
The November 2016 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online to subscribers. Topics featured in this issue include: electrochemistry; researching how assessment aids learning; using technology to teach; environmental chemistry; hands-on, minds-on activities and demonstrations; geology-inspired chemistry.
Atomsmith works really well on Chromebooks and other platforms. Students can manipulate molecules, add water, do experiments, heat solutions and examine intermolecular forces all on the particulate level. Another nice feature is the "Experiment" section. There are a number of guided activities, usually never more than a page or two. I have found them to be great supplements for activities, experiments and demonstrations.
In this blog post, I'll discuss how I've expanded my use of model kits within my chemistry class to help explore a variety of topics with my students.
Most chemistry teachers I know do flame tests with their students. It ties in well with many topics, is colorful and the kids enjoy seeing the colors and burning stuff. There are many applications. For years I always mentioned that astronomers use the idea of the flame test. They simply look at stars and examine the spectra from the light of these stars. They then match the spectra with the elements and then they can see and infer what elements are millions of light years away. I always mentioned this but never was able to demonstrate it.
My plans for the introduction of the periodic table for my chemistry course. Resources include a document that I use to help students with vocabulary and key points as well as my recommendation for a Target Inquiry activity to use with your students.
I have to be honest. I am not big on showing videos that take up a whole class period. Most videos I try to make or get off of You Tube and usually I can asign them for homework. I never want them to be more than ten minutes long.
