Chemical Reactions is a topic that unites a number of skills from formula writing, balancing equations, predicting products and solubility to name a few. On January 13th, 2022, Sarah English shared her unit covering chemical reactions in this ChemBasics Talk. You can view a recording of her presentation below and access materials she uses.
ChemEd X ChemBasics Talk Recording: Edited video of Sarah's ChemBasics Talk - Exploring Chemical Reactions, ChemEd X Vimeo Channel (01/14/2022)
After the presentation, participants met in their choice of breakout rooms. This collaborative time is what makes a meeting like this much different than a typical webinar. It is a valuable opportunity to connect with other teachers and find and share new resources. To encourage sharing, this portion of the meeting is not recorded but teachers that attended the ChemBasics Talk have access to notes and links shared.
Access to Shared Materials
Sarah included a lot of information within her presentation. You can access her slide deck and resource folder below. She also recommended two resources available online. Symbol Salad allows users to select a symbol and then easily use that symbol within a document or presentation. Java Lab is a catalog of free interactive simulations that cover a wide range of science and math topics. There are several pages of simulations related to chemistry and atoms to explore! Sarah highlighted the precipitation simulation (shown below) on page 16 of her presentation.
ChemBasics Exploring Chemical Reactions - Sarah's presentation slide deck
Resource Folder - Items shared by Sarah within the presentation
About Sarah
Dr. Sarah English started her career in education as a Peace Corps volunteer in The Gambia, West Africa from 1995-1997. She has been a Regents Chemistry and Advanced Placement Chemistry teacher for 22 years at Sweet Home High School in Amherst, NY. Dr. English is very passionate about science education in her school, the community and across New York State. She advises Sweet Home’s American Chemical Society (ACS) Chemistry club, is on the board of directors for the Western section of the Science Teacher Association of New York State (STANYS) and is the founder of WNY ChemConnect, bringing together local chemistry teachers to share best practices and support.
Join us!
We hope you will watch the schedule and register to attend an upcoming ChemEd X ChemBasics Talk! After the presentation, we have a variety of breakout rooms before coming back together for a follow up discussion. Participants are sent notes and resources from group discussions that aren't shared more publicly. Attendance certificates are sent as well.
To find the schedule of future ChemEd X ChemBasics Talks as well as more recordings of previous Talks, see ChemEd X Talks, ChemBasics Talks - Schedule and Recordings.
NGSS
Students who demonstrate understanding can construct and revise an explanation for the outcome of a simple chemical reaction based on the outermost electron states of atoms, trends in the periodic table, and knowledge of the patterns of chemical properties.
*More information about all DCI for HS-PS1 can be found at https://www.nextgenscience.org/dci-arrangement/hs-ps1-matter-and-its-interactions and further resources at https://www.nextgenscience.org.
Students who demonstrate understanding can construct and revise an explanation for the outcome of a simple chemical reaction based on the outermost electron states of atoms, trends in the periodic table, and knowledge of the patterns of chemical properties.
Assessment is limited to chemical reactions involving main group elements and combustion reactions.
Examples of chemical reactions could include the reaction of sodium and chlorine, of carbon and oxygen, or of carbon and hydrogen.