Nuclear Chemistry

This year I’ve been working extra hard as my state, Indiana, has made a big switch: we adopted NGSS. I’m really excited about the change in how we are teaching chemistry, but adopting a whole new, very different style of standards has come with a lot of work to update and replace older activities.

Well, we’ve reached the end of the line – this is my last interactive notebook unit to share. I hope that you’ve found them helpful. Don’t worry – I’m not done sharing about my interactive notebooking journey because for me, it truly is a journey.

When students study atomic theory, they learn that protons and neutrons are in the nucleus and electrons are found in an electron cloud outside the nucleus. Therefore, when they are introduced to nuclear chemistry, some students have a hard time understanding that an electron can come FROM THE NUCLEUS! A beta particle is a free electron that i

Nuclear chemistry is often one of the most fascinating topics we cover in an introductory chemistry course. Finding demos that are interesting, relevant, and manageable is sometimes challenging. As a ceramic artist and chemistry professor, using Fiestaware® to talk about the historical use of radioactive isotopes is my favorite demonstration. 

 *Thomas Manning and **Aurora Pérez Gramatges recently asked the publisher of their book, Computer Based Projects For a Chemistry Curriculum, to provide educators open access to the resource. Bentham Science has agreed and the eBook will be open access through June 30, 2020.