gas laws

What are we doing to help kids achieve?

In a previous post on exploring new ways to incorporate authentic assessments, I referenced how a wonderful activity centered around the application of gas laws could help investigate the Deflategate controversy that consumed NFL news throughout the 2014-15 sea

When trying to convince our students of the pressure we are constantly under from the atmosphere, we typically resort to a favorite demo or two that demonstrates this idea with some sort of dramatic flair. Though a variety of demos exist, I recently tried one that I had never done before but will most certainly continue to use in the future.

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.

Gas laws can be a challenge for many high school level students and teachers, for many reasons. The availability of gas canisters is, at least in my state of Colorado, mostly banned or restricted due to safety concerns, leaving teachers with the need to produce their own for use in the lab.

If you read my last blog post you heard discussion of putting together a practical and useful professional development opportunity for chemistry teachers. It is a conference for teachers, by teachers.

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:

I try to examine activities an multiple levels. First on the list, I want to know if my students will be engaged and learn something. Second, how difficult is it for me as a teacher to actually pull it off? One of the most important questions...are the students learning chemistry or just having fun?