high school chemistry

Take a flight. No, I’m not asking you to step on a plane. Take a page out of a wine and beer tasting approach as you look at the May 2019 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education.

I like it when mainstream movies have at least a small moment that crosses over into chemistry application. In the classroom, using a brief clip brings one more point of connection to a concept, outside of the textbook.

People tie dye cloth. People study chemistry. What makes putting the two things together such a popular activity in chemistry classrooms and science clubs? Recently, a photo showcasing American Chemical Society (ACS) ChemClub students in their completed shirts from a National Chemistry Week tie-dye event popped up in my Twitter feed.

“’Yes, as Ma would say, enough is as good as a feast,’ Laura agreed.”

How can a student show what he or she has learned in a laboratory? The way that might first pop into your head is the lab report. It is a tangible, written record of an experiment’s results that can easily be marked for presence of procedure, data, analysis, etc. But what about the processes that occur during the lab itself?

Throw the phrase “chemistry class” at someone to get their reaction. What do you predict it would be? A chalkboard full of stoichiometry problems? Wading through the atomic masses on the periodic table? Bubbling beakers? Something else? In any case, I’m guessing his or her first answer would not be, “Creative writing.”

I am not a January resolution maker, but I do appreciate the transition to a new year as a regular marker for reflection on the past, present, and future.

What surprised you most about class last week? What do you think was the muddiest point in class last week?

“You sank my battleship!” Do you remember this line from a classic commercial featuring the board game Battleship? It sat in my family’s game closet when I was a kid, but it’s popping up again recently, with chemistry twists.