A simple laboratory experiment in which students simply measure the wavelength of light is described. An LED light, diffraction glasses, and a meterstick are the only required materials.
In this blog post I will discuss an interview with Dr. Richard Feynman relating to magnets that explores the concept of "why?" questions in science. You will find a links to a blog post and a transcript of the interview along with ideas for how I use the video in IB Chemistry.
The American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT) has just made a major announcement. The first AACT Chemistry Teacher of the Year Awards have just opened their nomination process. Awards will be given to teachers in each of three levels of chemistry education. One for K-5 teachers of science, one for grade 6-8 teachers of physical science, and one for high school chemistry teachers.
I have tried many different methods to demonstrate or perform displacement reactions over the years with mixed results regarding one particular metal, aluminium. Based upon my experience, the behavior of aluminium in displacement reactions often confuses students.
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?
Like many schools, this year my school went 1:1. Each of our students was issued an 11 inch Chromebook with a webcam. Our upperclassmen have the the older Samsung models with a front-facing webcam and our underclassmen have the new Lenovo N22/23 models with a flippable webcam. I am a “jump in head first” type of person so I decided to go completely paperless this year. Now that I am halfway through the year (and still paperless!), I wanted to share what has been working well for me and where the snags have been.
Whether you are looking to add a bit more scientific inquiry to your labs or simply looking for a great stoichiometry lab that can be added to your collection, I encourage you to try something like this with your students!
In the embedded video, I will walk you through a kinetics experiment we use in our Chemistry 2 (and Honors Chemistry 2) courses. The lab is called Disappearing X.
Celebrating Ninety-Five Years
The January 2018 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online to subscribers. Topics featured in this issue include: exploring magnetic properties; examining outreach practices; spectroscopy; understanding chemical changes over time; laboratory curriculum reform; teaching scientific communication; analytical chemistry activities; biochemistry laboratories; 3D printing molecular models; from the archives: chemistry outreach.
The focus of this article will be on how to incorporate the first science and engineering practice, asking questions, into your chemistry instruction. The most common professional development technique I have encountered regarding this practice is Question Formulation Technique (QFT).
