outreach

I have taught at three different public schools in the United States (two in California and one in Washington state), and now three different international schools (two in Thailand, one in Romania) - and at each school I have honed my practice as a chemistry teacher based on interactions and feedback from students, the strengths of the school, and the e

In this Chemical Mystery, a metal sphere is heated until it glows orange-hot, and then it is placed in some water. Watch what happens next:

In a previous post, I learned that a Scrub Daddy sponge is mainly comprised of a polymer called polycaprolactone.¹ I have continued to gather information on polycaprolactone and also to experiment with Scrub Daddy sponges.

In preparation for the National Chemistry Week (NCW) theme of “Chemistry Rocks!”, I have been testing various decorative beads for the presence of certain minerals. Several beads of this type are available at craft stores such as Michael’s and JoAnn Fabric.

The theme for National Chemistry Week (NCW) this year is Chemistry Rocks!¹ During NCW, which this year will be held October 22 – 28, many chemical educators will be focusing on the chemistry of rocks and minerals. To prepare for NCW, I’ve been in the lab conducting tests on the chemical and physical properties of various geological samples.

I recently watched a video in which a chemist (who goes by the nickname “NurdRage”) activated a chemiluminescent reaction by vapor deposition. You can see a short clip of this experiment below:

In Chemical Mystery #10, plastic straws are observed to “magically” change color when waved in the air. Check it out in the video below:

It's almost time for the Fouth of July here in the United States of America. In honor of my country, I'd like to share the following chemical mystery, which involves the colors red, white, and blue: just like the American flag! Check out the video below, and see if you can't solve the mystery of the colors appearing "out of the blue"!

I first saw the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment during a science fair at an elementary school in 2005, and I was instantly hooked! To perform this experiment, Mentos candies are dropped into a bottle of carbonated beverage; Diet Coke tends to be the beverage of choice. In the video below you can see this experiment play out in slow motion.