Solution to Chemical Mystery #14: Loves Me...Loves Me Not
Tom Kuntzleman | Wed, 02/27/2019 - 12:37
Did you figure out how the experiment in Chemical Mystery #14 was performed? The solution is presented here!
Science Practice: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Chemical Mystery #14: Loves Me…Loves Me Not
Tom Kuntzleman | Tue, 02/19/2019 - 09:46
You can figure out how this Valentine's Day experiment was done...if you know your chemistry, that is!
Mole Unit Mini-Practicums
Lauren Stewart | Thu, 02/07/2019 - 17:59
We all know how fundamental the mole concept is for stoichiometry. This year I brainstormed ways to really make it stick. I decided to do multiple mini-practicums, one for each learning target of the mole unit. I am sharing brief descriptions of the mini-practicums I did for each learning target.
Using Evidence to Determine the Correct Chemical Equation: A Stoichiometry Investigation
Ben Meacham | Mon, 01/15/2018 - 00:09
Whether you are looking to add a bit more scientific inquiry to your labs or simply looking for a great stoichiometry lab that can be added to your collection, I encourage you to try something like this with your students!
The Density Bottle Strikes Again
Tom Kuntzleman | Fri, 12/01/2017 - 07:48
Density Bottles can be used to teach a variety of chemical concepts such as density, solubility, and polarity. In this post it is shown that Density Bottles can also be used to differentiate between heterogeneous and homogeneous mixtures, and to explore light scattering.
Investigating the Effect of Concentration on Reaction Time
Ben Meacham | Tue, 01/24/2017 - 09:33
Whether you are introducing collision theory or something more demanding like reaction order, the reaction between sodium thiosulfate—Na2S2O3 and hydrochloric acid can provide a consistent, accurate, and engaging opportunity for investigating these topics.
Using Chemical Mysteries (in the IB) Chemistry Classroom
Lowell Thomson | Tue, 06/21/2016 - 13:48
Inspired by Tom Kuntzleman*, I started using mysteries in my chemistry curriculum this past year. The first mystery I shared with my students was burning water. While my magician skills aren't perfect, I was able to get the students asking questions and proposing hypotheses. For my IB students, it really allowed me to delve into a number of topics (e.g. combustion, intermolecular forces, polarity, density). And thus an idea was born: Using one mystery per topic. In this blog post I'll discuss my beginning effort to find or develop a mystery for each topic within the IB Chemistry curriculum.
Tell Me a Story
Sarah Kong | Tue, 03/22/2016 - 09:25
Just as our lives and various circumstances have a story, so do our laboratory experiences. Often the labs we do lack context but we expect students to buy in to the experiment without knowing the what, where, or why of the story. What makes this lab worth doing? What question(s) are we trying to answer? Why was someone exploring this in the first place?
Relative Reactivities of Metals
Dan Meyers | Thu, 12/17/2015 - 14:37
Last winter I watched a webinar put on by ACS and AACT called "NGSS in the Chemistry Classroom." As a result of watching that webinar, I took an activity that had NGSS Science & Engineering Practices (SEP) integrated into it and tried it out in class. In this activity, students are required to develop their own procedures and data tables.