1. Home
  2. Atomic Structure & Theory

Atomic Structure & Theory

Ion Chip Challenge: A Brain Break for Chemistry Classrooms

Melissa Hemling | Thu, 07/25/2024 - 21:37

The Ion Chip Challenge is an interactive brain break game where students play rock-paper-scissors to exchange electron chips, helping them understand ion formation by addressing common misconceptions about positive and negative charges. This engaging activity combines movement and social interaction, making chemistry concepts more accessible and reinforcing that ions are formed through the transfer of electrons, not protons.

Hatching Ideas to use Egg Cartons to Represent Electron Arrangements

Dean Campbell | Mon, 01/23/2023 - 14:11

Egg cartons and small objects such as milk jug caps or plastic eggs can be used to illustrate chemical concepts. The egg cartons can be cut into trays to represent atoms or to represent energy levels associated with atomic orbitals. The plastic caps or eggs distributed among the dimples of the trays can be used to represent electrons or pairs of electrons.

1, 2, 3: Hybrid Dimensions

Joseph Lomax | Sat, 11/12/2022 - 22:28

Sometimes the obvious is the most difficult to see. Even after teaching for four decades, there is still something to learn from students. What did I recently learn? Check out my post. 

Three-dimensional figure to improve the didactics of the Periodic Table

PABLO CASSINELLO | Mon, 04/04/2022 - 10:00

A kaleidocycle is presented in which the entire periodic table has been collected. In this three-dimensional figure are the elements organized in four blocks according to their final electronic structure. It is intended that students with this playful figure actively participate in classes by rotating their kaleidocycle looking for the groups or elements that are being studied. The entire periodic table fits in one palm of their hands. It is also a didactic device because students only focus their attention on one block or group of elements from the entire Periodic Table. It can be achieved a more entertaining, motivating and exciting learning about the subject of the Periodic Table.

Analogy Experiment—Projectile Pennies with Rutherford

Ben Meacham | Mon, 11/08/2021 - 15:48

Atomic theory is a common topic throughout any introductory chemistry course. It is likely that Rutherford’s gold foil experiment gets at least some attention in your course. This simple activity gives students an opportunity to replicate Rutherford’s experiment through an analogy experiment that may allow for easier conceptualization of the experiment itself and provide additional support for model development.