In this one-day, remotely delivered, immersive, and interactive mini-institute, participants will learn how to use the VisChem Approach.
Lead Contributor, Sarah English, outlines how she uses Canva (free for educators) to capture student ideas and misconceptions.
Egg cartons and beverage holders can be used as models of atoms, with their dimples representing orbitals. Each dimple can hold up to two objects such as milk jug caps, plastic eggs, and cup pieces to represent electrons in the orbitals. Partially overlapping the trays by stacking the dimples represents chemical bonding and produces molecular models resembling Lewis structures. The models can be easily made from materials that can be readily found grocery stores and fast-food restaurants.
Yvonne Clifford shares a compilation of lessons that incorporate Indigenous peoples and cultures.
Dean Campbell uses demonstrations and props to illustrate concepts while teaching his collegiate Materials Chemistry course. Many of the examples described are also suitable for use in high school and collegiate General Chemistry courses.
The shapes of plastic bottles can be used to represent orbitals. Using various connectors, a bit of packing tape, and a few other more specialized touches can produce large scale molecular models that feature orbitals, sigma bonds, and pi bonds.
Explore how small the stuff that makes up matter is and consider what those tiny particles are doing in this engaging activity.
Flash rocks, typically pieces of quartz that produce light when struck together, are an example of the complex phenomenon of triboluminescence. The green chemistry aspects for the flash rock demonstration are considered, and LEGO models illustrating quartz crystals, piezoelectric materials, and nonpiezoelectric materials are presented.
Many chemistry teachers use models and diagrams to help students describe how matter behaves at the particle level. On April 14, 2022, Doug Ragan explained how he uses colored magnets in his classroom to represent things such as subatomic particles, states of matter, balancing chemical equations, types of bonding, molecular geometry and much more. View a recording of his presentation and access materials he uses.
Please welcome Phil Root as a new ChemEd X two-year college (2YC) lead contributor. This is his first blog. Enjoy...
