This is the time of year when I start looking ahead and planning my professional development for the new year. As a mom to two young boys I simply cannot attend all the conferences, workshops, or lectures I’d like to. I have to research my options and determine how each oppo
In my high school chemistry classes, I stress the use of units and the use of written chemical formulas to be represented properly. It is important to me that when a student expresses the formula of a chemical either in their data or in a balanced equation that they represent it correctly.
The Chemical Educational Foundation's (CEF) You Be The Chemist® (YBTC) programs are designed to enhance K-8 science education by introducing the central role of chemistry in all the sciences and in our everyday lives. To accomplish its mission, CEF relies on the collaboration of industry, educators, and all members of a community to enhance science education among every generation, beginning with our youth. See CEF website for more information: https://www.chemed.org/ybtc/
Graphene may be the most remarkable substance ever discovered. But what's it for?
Wow! Night one of the semester we did the activity Change You Can Believe In. It was my second time facilitating, so I did a much better job of directing students when they asked questions and it went much faster than last semester. I did still, as expected, have students that were frustrated.
A New Year with a New Volume of Resources The January 2015 issue marks the start of the 92nd volume of the Journal of Chemical Education and is now available online at http://pubs.acs.org/toc/jceda8/92/1. This issue features colorful chemistry; using stories and writing to learn; demystifying chemistry literature; cost-effective activities and materials; experimenting with chromatography and natural products.
“On the third day of Christmas, my mailman brought to me… three gardening catalogs.” Jumping the gun? Or marketing genius? The doldrums after the holiday were a perfect time for these pages with their promise of spring. Their arrival kicked off an evening of grand plans. Somewhere along the line, chemistry crept in.
A good inquiry activity is an engaging way to begin a new semester.
Happy New Year! For many, the beginning of a new year involves creating resolutions. And, hopefully not quitting them! Something I have resolved to do is modify the presentation and submission of lab reports.
The “bucket launch” is a fantastic experiment you can do if you have access to liquid nitrogen. Depending upon conditions, we have observed the bucket to launch anywhere from 80 to 160 feet high. See the video.
