Kristen Drury's blog

 In this lesson, students are offered a variety of alternative versions of the periodic table. Students will identify trends that are consistent from one table to the next in order to understand why the tables they are working with and Mendeleev's version are organized in the manner that they are. This lesson was designed to fit the NGSS performance expectation HS-PS 1.1 but can be used for any first year chemistry course or modified at your discretion.

Kristen Drury shares how she covers the new AP Chemistry Course and Exam Description Learning Objectives associated with atomic structure. 

The first unit in my sequence for AP Chemistry covers stoichiometry and reactions. The new AP Chemistry Course and Exam Description has identified Learning Objectives which need to be taught and practiced to ensure students perform well on the AP Chemistry Exam. I will identify and describe activities I use to teach students some of the Learning Objectives that I tie into this unit.

The new AP Chemistry Course and Exam Description (CED) has been released and in effect for a few months now. Several teachers have asked me “Will you be changing your sequence to match the CED?”.

Organic Chemistry is overlooked as a first year chemistry topic in most areas, but it can be a very valuable and fun experience for students. This is an activity that can be used to introduce students to functional groups.

The AP Chemistry Exam is getting closer. What will you provide your students to review for the big day?

A common topic in chemistry discussion groups and forums is about the use of the terms “spontaneous reaction” versus “thermodynamic favorability”. This is a new activity for chemistry students who struggle with the correlation between changes in enthalpy, temperature, entropy, and the Gibbs free energy of a system; which relies on an analogy that most students will be familiar with.

Let me share some tips I learned reading the Advanced Placement Chemistry Exam in Salt Lake City, Utah.