If a student “gets the wrong answer” while performing mole conversions, it can be difficult (for both student and the teacher) to discern where an error was made. Inevitably sometime toward the beginning of learning these conversions, students can become overly confident, plugging numbers in without thinking about whether they are sensical. This card set slows students down to think about the order and purpose of each of the steps in mole conversions. The best part of the activity (in my opinion) is that each set contains an unnecessary card!

Editor's Note: Are you teaching virtually? This activity could easily be used virtually. See Adapting Card Sorts for Digital Instruction.

Materials

Background

Students should be familiar with conversion factors involving the mole. Students should have had some practice trying to set up conversion factors between mass, moles, and particles so that this activity is meaningful to them. 

Procedure

FOR THE TEACHER:

1. Give the student(s) one question set (figure 1). Be sure to log into your account to access the Student Document including all six question sets in the Supporting Information below.

Figure 1: Card set for Question #1.

     a. Have students find the “DIRECTIONS” card (figure 2). 

Figure 2: Directions card     

     b. Bring attention to Directions 4 & 5 to save time and confusion.

3. Let work commence, and walk around to monitor.

     a. Did students identify the question (figure 3)?

Figure 3: Question card for card set #1

     b. Did students set up the cards correctly (figure 4)?

Figure 4: Correct order of cards for Question #1  

     c. Did students find the unnecessary card (figure 5)?

Figure 5: Unnecessary card for set #1

4. Have students travel around the room to the next question when they finish.

Questions

Concepts

mole conversions

Time Required

Preparation

Print the 6 problem sets. Choose a different color of paper for each problem. Be sure to log into your account to access the Student Document including all six question sets in the Supporting Information below.

Attribution

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Credits