Blogs

ChemEd X contributors offer their ideas and opinions on a broad spectrum of topics pertaining to chemical education.

Blogs at ChemEd X reflect the opinions of the contributors and are open to comments. Only selected contributors blog at ChemEd X. If you would like to blog regularly at ChemEd X, please use our Contribution form to request an invitation to do so from one of our editors.

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text: LAB PREP TIPS next to beaker with test tubes
Lab Prep Tips
// Thursday, May 11, 2023 • Amy Snyder
As we approach Graduation season, I’ve been considering all the new teachers we will have joining our schools in the very near future, and thinking back to my first year as a Biology and Chemistry teacher in 1997. There are many skills and techniques that may not be formally taught to preservice teachers, no matter if they go through alternative ce
Five Tips for Creating Chemistry Tutorials on YouTube Shorts
// Tuesday, May 9, 2023 • Josh Kenney
Short, vertical format videos are all the rage right now. On average, young people spend five hours on apps like TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube, swiping through endless hours of content. 
exploding watermelon with carved face
The Self-Carving Pumpkin: It's Not Just for Halloween!
// Tuesday, May 2, 2023 • Tom Kuntzleman
The chemistry demonstration called the self-carving pumpkin1 is a blast (no pun intended) to conduct around Halloween. To prepare this experiment, a jack-o-lantern face is carved into a pumpkin, but the eye, nose, and mouth pieces are saved. These pieces are then gently placed back into the holes in the pumpkin.
text "My Take on Assessment" with scantron
My Take on Assessment
// Tuesday, May 2, 2023 • Michael Jansen
Student assessment (—we used to call it evaluation; before that it was testing—) is ever-changing.
Solar Eclipse Trip Recap preview image with title within eclipsed sun graphic
Solar Eclipse Trip Recap
// Monday, May 1, 2023 • Dean Campbell
The total solar eclipse of April, 8 2024 was viewed by millions of people on the North American continent,1 including me. I teach at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, only about three hours northwest of the path of totality.
text: "Making Natural Acid Base Indicators" in the center of images of preparation from post
Making Natural Acid Base Indicators
// Wednesday, April 5, 2023 • Ariel Serkin
I remember one of my closest friends in college telling the story of her mother and cabbage soup. When her parents were first married, her mom made a recipe for cabbage soup which they loved. She wanted to make it again, but couldn’t find green cabbage so she made it with red. To their surprise, it turned out bright blue.
text: AP Chemistry with WE Service
AP Chemistry with WE Service
// Friday, March 24, 2023 • Melissa Hemling
During the 2020-2021 school year I decided to embark on something new in my AP Chemistry class - AP with WE Service. I have been teaching AP Chemistry for over 11 years. I enjoyed exposing the top students at my school to the rigor of a college-level class, but I had the itch to help my students use their science powers for good.
PAEMST symbol
Writing your PAEMST Addendum
// Monday, March 13, 2023 • Ariel Serkin
Congratulations on becoming a PAEMST state finalist. Just when you think you can breathe a sigh of relief and celebrate that you are a state finalist, you realize you still have a week to write another 9000 very carefully chosen words.