high school chemistry

ChemEd X Symposium

ChemEd X organized and hosted its inaugural symposium, Chemical Education Xchange: Engaging with Contributors, featuring invited speakers during BCCE 2018 at Notre Dame. The presentations of our Lead Contributors and Associate Editors were well-received. ChemEd X plans to host similar symposia at future conferences.

Where did all the desks go?

When the idea of going deskless popped into my head last spring, it was in response to classroom management and safety issues that had been arising with increased class sizes, the addition of inclusion physical science 9 to my schedule and the adoption of a 1:1 Chromebook program.

Two Simple and Cheap Illustrations of Phase Equilibrium and Vapor Pressure

A favorite demonstration is to boil water by lowering the pressure in a bell jar using a vacuum pump. Unfortunately, purchasing a bell jar, vacuum plate, and vacuum pump can run upwards of $1,000 which poses a hardship for many teachers. Here are two simple and inexpensive demonstrations of phase equilibrium and vapor pressure.

Continuing Change - Update

For the last two years, the district I worked for has been tirelessly working toward curriculum changes that would better line up with the new state science standards. Michigan hasn’t officially adopted NGSS, instead adopting the Michigan Science Standards (based on NGSS). The Michigan Science Standards (MSS) has a lot of similarities with NGSS in terms of how we would teach the content.