The concept of the mole has always been a challenging topic for myself and my students. The challenge comes in part when we try to imagine 6.02 x 1023 of anything. Another challenge for some students is the math and theory behind this number and concept. I have tweaked an activity to help guide my students to an understanding of these concepts.
My students just finished an activity about isotopes. Each year there is always one or more student who ask about the mass of isotopes. How do scientists solve for that mass experimentally?
If you have never attended a BCCE, I offer some reasons to change that this summer. The conference will be in Notre Dame this summer. Please vote for the topic that you would like me to develop my presentation about.
I feel like every year I face the same old dilemma. It starts with an idea in mind of what and how something should be taught. This idea is fine until it is discovered that students this year are different than students last year. The idea is changed or “tweaked”. The process is feels similar to having to “reinvent” the wheel each year. This gets exhausting.
It was close to the end of the semester and we were covering gas laws. Students were stressed over the idea of finals, final projects due, tests before finals and the holidays. Since we were finishing up the topic and it was important to end with one last assessment and/or lab but the timing was not good and the stress level for everyone was at an all time high. A different course of action was needed.
Nomenclature is a tough topic. I tell students that we are living in the land of symbols while we study nomenclature. It is important but it is difficult to get them excited. I started fishing for resources. The American Association for Chemistry Teachers (AACT) has been a great resource to help me try new things.
"What are we doing to help kids achieve?"
"What are we doing to help kids achieve?"
