Reflections on Choice Boards in the Chemistry Classroom
Stephanie O'Brien | Thu, 06/24/2021 - 11:01
Stephanie O'Brien shares lessons learned and strategies for utilizing choice boards in chemistry classroom.
bonding
Kasi: A Multi-Sensory Modeling System
Doug Ragan | Fri, 04/30/2021 - 06:26
Doug Ragan has been working with the Alchemie team -- founded by a former chemistry teacher, Julia Winter -- for a number of years. They have been working over the last year on a new project, named Kasi, which delivers sound-based feedback to students as they learn with tactile pieces on a magnetic whiteboard. The goal is to build an accessible learning system that helps ALL students learn, and is particularly important for those with visual impairments.
Stamp of the Week #3
Michael Morgan | Wed, 04/07/2021 - 14:56
A Soviet era stamp featuring a quadruple bond.
Computer Based Labs - eBook
Thomas Manning | Wed, 04/01/2020 - 17:16
This book is filled with computer based labs that can be used in a range of classes from high school chemistry to an undergraduate course in physical chemistry. Bentham Science has generously provided free online access to the eBook through June 30, 2020.
Open Access to ChemEd X Resources - COVID19
ChemEd X Admin | Mon, 03/23/2020 - 11:42
Due to the COVID 19 crisis, ChemEd X videos and software is open access to all educators.
Measuring Surface Tension to Investigate Intermolecular Forces
Ben Meacham | Fri, 05/31/2019 - 22:38
Like most concepts in chemistry, intermolecular forces takes a bit of imagination and critical thinking to fully comprehend and apply when explaining a variety of situations. Though demonstrating the presence of these forces in a simple and explicit manner can easily be done, I wanted to change how I introduced IMFs a bit this year by focusing on a more data-to-concepts approach.
Especially JCE: April 2019
Erica Jacobsen | Mon, 04/15/2019 - 17:50
Erica Jacobsen shares highlights from the April 2019 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education.
Examining VSEPR though the Cross Cutting Concept of Patterns
Stephanie O'Brien | Sat, 12/15/2018 - 16:23
In an effort to align an old VSEPR lesson to NGSS, I told my students that we were going to look at the data available from the real molecules on the pHET simulation we were using and specifically look for patterns. Finding patterns is a cross-cutting concept; one of the three dimensions of NGSS.
Modeling the Concept of Ionic Bonding
Ben Meacham | Sun, 05/21/2017 - 11:11
When describing abstract concepts like chemical bonding, it always seems to feel far too easy for both teachers and students to resort to the “wants” and “needs” of atoms. After all, we understand what it means to want, need, or like something, so it often feels appropriate (and easier) to use a relatable metaphor or subtly anthropomorphize these atoms to accommodate our students’ current reasoning abilities. While predicting the types of bonds that will form and the general idea behind how atoms bond can be answered correctly using such relatable phrases or ideas, the elephant in the room still in remains—do our students really understand why these atoms bond?
Ionic Covalent Compounds and Card Sorts
Chad Husting | Thu, 02/02/2017 - 19:10
Card sorts are a great way to achieve a number of classroom objectives. They can be used as a review activity or they can be done during the middle of a lesson as a type of formative assessment. Sorts can encourage students to work with other students or can even be used as a type of exit ticket. I decided to use the strategy about two thirds of the way through a unit on covalent and ionic compounds and lewis structures. I knew there were items we did not cover in the sort but I was curious to see how they would approach these unknown topics.