Robert Buntrock reviews an interesting book on the chemistry of explosives just in time for summer fireworks.
The updated ACS Guidelines and Recommendations for Teaching Middle and High School Chemistry were recently released.
Part of placing value on the process of learning means giving students multiple opportunities to demonstrate understanding. Reassessments are an inevitable part of the process. For many teachers, this presents a logistical problem. To help streamline the entire process, I would like to share a simple strategy that anyone can replicate in a short amount of time.
Now that the 2018 administration of the AP Chemistry Exam is in the books, all of us AP Chemistry teachers now have an opportunity to reflect on the year as we turn our attention toward preparing for the fall.
Erica Jacobsen shares highlights from the May 2018 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education.
New Perspectives on Teaching Chemistry
The May 2018 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online to subscribers. Topics featured in this issue include: electrochemistry and corrosion; textbooks; research on the chemistry teacher pipeline, argument-driven inquiry, and online homework; using everyday objects to teach; teaching organic chemistry with games; communication and writing; examining and creating innovative curriculum; computer-aided discovery activities; exploring kinetics; interdisciplinary laboratory investigations; from the archives: applications of 3D printing for teaching chemistry.
I was drawn to an article by Eilks, Gulacar, and Sandoval about Acid-Base Chemistry and Chemical Equilibrium in the April 2018 issue of JCE. The title of the article is "Exploring the Mysterious Substances, X and Y: Challenging Students' Thinking on Acid-Base Chemistry and Chemical Equilibrium." The premise of the article is to demonstrate how an instructor may use a group of compounds (zeolites) to "elaborate on the behavior of solid state acids and bases" while revisiting LeChatelier's principle.
Radioactivity is a topic in chemistry that can be difficult to teach if you are looking for a hands-on, data-driven approach. Safety and cost concerns often prevent students from having an inquiry-based experience with the topic. In this post, I will share how I am able to give my students an authentic lab experience for them to determine there are three types of ionizing radiation without direct instruction.
1 class period
Over the last two years, the Official AP Chemistry Community forum on the College Board website has been largely, though not completely, displaced by the formation of a Facebook group called National AP Chemistry Teachers that now boasts 1,962 members.
Placing Chemistry into a World Context
The April 2018 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online to subscribers. Topics featured in this issue include: service-learning, safety, investigating student understanding of solutions, environmental chemistry, green chemistry, waste management, acid-base chemistry, natural products, materials science, activities and laboratory investigations, teaching resources, diving into the archives: marine chemistry.
