Blogs

Buffers bring together many of the skills students develop throughout AP Chemistry, making them both an important and often challenging topic to teach. In this APTeach session, teachers came together to share strategies for helping students make connections among acid–base chemistry, equilibrium, stoichiometry, particulate-level representations, and pH calculations.

What if note-taking didn’t mean sitting quietly while the teacher lectured? In this article, Anthony Stetzenmeyer shares a nontraditional approach to classroom notes that gets students moving, interacting, and thinking. Inspired by Just in Time Teaching (JiTT), his strategy separates the act of collecting information from the process of making meaning, using posted guided notes, targeted “Notes Checks,” and short, data-driven mini-lessons. The result is a classroom structure that increases engagement, supports diverse learners, and transforms notes from a passive task into an active learning experience.

A simple demo to illustrate an induced dipole effect.

A can of hydrogen-infused water becomes a gateway to general chemistry. Follow the evidence to explore reactions, gas laws, acid-base chemistry, and the calculations that explain this intriguing beverage.

Mustard, well as the colors red, white, and blue, seem to be great connections to summertime. Chemical and physical interactions with mustard components can produce color changes toward red, white, and blue. Basic solutions will change the yellow curcumin in turmeric in mustard toward red. Exposure to blue or higher-energy light will change the yellow curcumin toward white. Addition of acids like acetic acid (a component of mustard) will turn a yellow basic solution of indigo carmine to a blue color.

This meeting focused on reflection, collaboration, and the sharing of instructional practices from the past academic year. Participants discussed classroom strategies, laboratory activities, and review techniques that were particularly successful in supporting student engagement and conceptual understanding in chemistry courses.

The April 2026 AP Teach meeting, titled “Revving Up for Review,” focused on creative and effective strategies for helping chemistry students prepare for end-of-course and AP exams through active, student-centered review activities. Presenters shared a variety of approaches designed to move beyond traditional worksheets and repetitive problem sets by incorporating collaborative games, stations, inquiry activities, and concept-focused review exercises.

The March 2026 AP Teach meeting focused on VisChem and the use of dynamic particle-level animations to improve student understanding of chemistry concepts that are often difficult to visualize. Presenters demonstrated how VisChem animations can help students connect macroscopic observations and symbolic equations to molecular-level interactions, allowing them to build stronger conceptual models of chemical processes.

This meeting focused on instructional strategies and classroom resources designed to strengthen student understanding of chemistry concepts through modeling, discussion, and hands-on learning. Presenters shared activities and lesson structures that encourage students to analyze data, construct explanations, and make connections between symbolic chemistry, particle-level models, and real-world phenomena.

The January 2026 meeting centered on strategies for making chemistry instruction more engaging and conceptually focused through interactive activities, modeling, and student-centered learning.