Engage students in organic chemistry with a simple one-pot synthesis using the Mannich condensation reaction. This hands-on lab reinforces key concepts like reaction mechanisms, chromatography, and yield calculations, making abstract ideas tangible while building essential lab skills.
Nora Walsh has been using interactive notebooks for some time. Here she outlines her stoichiometry unit and explains how she uses the interactive notebooks with her students.
The Golden Drain is a case study developed by Sharma and Wolfgang where students work to uncover a company’s lost revenue due to the error of a new employee.
Students combine sodium carbonate and hydrochloric acid generating carbon dioxide gas which is allowed to escape. They measure the actual yield of carbon dioxide produced (missing mass), calculate the theoretical yield using stoichiometry, and then the percent yield. Students understand that 100% yield is the most appropriate answer (based on the Law of Conservation of Mass), so after considering the meaning of significant figures and the uncertainty of their measurements they are asked to decide if they did (or did not) get an answer that might indicate the validity of the Law.
