I met some amazing teachers at Chem Ed 2019. Two of these teachers are Yvonne Clifford and Sharon Geyer who ran a workshop about chemical demonstrations. One in particular caught my attention. The demonstration was an exothermic process with paraffin wax. Here is the demonstration.
My top 5 reasons for using Green Chemistry in my classroom along with a few examples of replacement labs that follow Green Chemistry principles.
It’s the beginning of a brand new school year, and a brand new opportunity to capture students’ interest in chemistry and the joy of lab-based sciences! In thousands of chemistry classrooms across the country, teachers will be planning labs, demos, and ways to have students be engaged and excited about learning.
Is your school district providing OSHA required safety training to teachers and other staff that will be in the science labs in your building?
In this post, I share my thoughts about positive relationships as well as some of the activities that I do on the first day of school to make connections with my students.
The ACS Committee on Chemical Safety has released the 8th edition of "Safety in Academic Chemistry Laboratories". The publication provides advice for first- and second-year university students.
The ACS Committee on Chemical Safety has published new Guidelines for Chemical Laboratory Safety in Secondary Schools. This document is organized with the R.A.M.P. concept – Recognize the hazard, Assess the risk of the hazard, Minimize the risk of the hazard, and Prepare for emergencies. The online document includes two pages for each letter that could be printed and posted in the classroom to reinforce these principles of safety. The documents are provided to strengthen the safety practices of teachers and help them to promote a culture of safety that their students will take with them throughout their academic and professional careers.
Undergraduates Need a Safety Education is the title found in the commentary section of the September 2016 Journal of Chemical Education. It is written by Robert H. Hill Jr and it explains the lack of safety education in chemistry curriculum. As I read this, I thought back to my safety education that prepared me for my role as a high school chemistry teacher and felt I was very fortunate to have had an undergradutae class that was specifically designed to teach chemical safety.
One of my favorite things to talk about with my colleagues is the use of lecture demonstrations in teaching. There seems to be a push in my district to stop using chemicals whenever possible and get to computer simulations and video in place of wet chemistry. I don’t think they are thrilled with me since I can’t envision ever taking the chemistry out of chemistry.
During the first week of school, I welcome my students to the What Not To Do Lab. I use the cartoon activity to review their Safety Contract handout from the night before. With more than 30 safety violations shown, the cartoon serves as a great ice breaker as I have each student introduce themselves and then list a safety infraction being shown on the cartoon.
