Shifra Yonis's blog

This APTeach session focuses on low-prep, high-engagement strategies for AP Chemistry Unit 4 (Chemical Reactions), with an emphasis on helping students build conceptual understanding while preparing for AP-level rigor. The session highlights classroom-tested activities for net ionic equations, reaction stoichiometry, and solution stoichiometry, including labs, simulations, particle-level representations, and discussion prompts grounded in Johnstone’s Triangle. Designed to support both new and experienced AP teachers, these resources prioritize student sense-making while easing instructional planning for a traditionally challenging unit. 

At our October meeting, teachers shared creative ways to make practice more engaging and meaningful. Kristen Vanderveen demonstrated a movement-based station activity for gas laws, while Sue Biggs presented her Molar Mass of a Gas lab that blends instruction with review and reflection.

The September AP Teach session focused on the application of Coulomb's Law in various sections of the AP Chemistry Curriculum and Exam Description (CED) and strategies for helping students write better responses.

The August AP Teach session focused on beginning a new school year with a review of student performance on the 2025 AP Chemistry exam. Jennifer Cambre shared ideas for how to interpret and analyze the data from the Instructional Planning Reports. 

In the July 2025 AP Teach session, experts walk through the features of the online Desmos graphing calculator.

This month's AP Teach meeting will discuss common misconceptions students have about electrochemistry and the chaos of Unit 9.

Join APTeach February 20th in discussing using particle diagrams, calculations, and titration curves to support student understanding of acids, bases, and buffers.

Inquiry and phenomena-based curriculum are buzzwords in the education world, especially in connection with NGSS. What does this actually mean and how can it be implemented in the chemistry classroom is explored in this article along with an introduction to some curriculum resources.