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Recently, I saw this really funny meme on facebook about the creative process. I think it also sums up designing and sustaining students in long term inquiry:
How does the blue to white color change occur in the foam of Scrubbing Bubbles or KABOOM Brand cleaners? Watch this video and find out.
Welcome back y'all! The beginning of the year is so exciting! I feel energized and look forward to meeting my new students. My classroom is neat and tidy, even my lab is organized and clean. And then, it begins. We do a lab, the students get to experience chemistry through some hands-on work, and I need to see what they have learned. Oh, the lab reports!
CLEAPSS is a subscription service, but our YouTube Channnel is an open source. The videos are designed for teachers and technicians in schools. They may just give you ideas. I have just put one up about electrostatics and the effect of magnets on water and oxygen. In a couple of weeks I hope to have a sequel showing the effect of magnets on precipitates and complexes.
Get ready for a splash of color during this year’s National Chemistry Week (NCW) celebration, October 18–24, 2015. The theme “Chemistry Colors Our World!” gives a chance to explore the chemistry of dyes, pigments, and light. An upcoming free webinar can get you started with resources.
I am just now getting caught up on all the things I recorded on my DVR this summer and came across a great two part special on the history of Uranium called “Twisting the Dragon’s Tail”(link is external).
Throughout my 21 previous years as a teacher, I have really struggled to provide meaningful (and timely!) feedback to my students on their lab reports. Teaching IB Chemistry has really forced me to get better - and I have. Yet I still feel like this is an area for more improvement.I've got a series of blog posts planned to share some ideas with you - and hopefully garner some discussion that will be helpful for me also! First I'd like to share the mechanics of how I provide feedback.
Build a propane gun for your students! Construction is inexpensive, easy, and the effects are spectacular.
As school districts across the country approach the implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards, students will be required to develop models to illustrate what occurs at an atomic level as well as apply various mathematical representations in order to explain a science-based concept. However, what opportunities are we providing our students to allow them to explain what they know about a concept? Students should be provided with regular opportunities to develop and explain concepts, which in turn will allow teachers to formatively assess and address misconceptions.
Michael Morgan has used this demo for over 25 years! His students from 20 years ago still remember the first day of chemistry!