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AP Chemistry Stoichiometry and Reactions Lessons

Kristen Drury | Sun, 09/29/2019 - 15:54

The first unit in my sequence for AP Chemistry covers stoichiometry and reactions. The new AP Chemistry Course and Exam Description has identified Learning Objectives which need to be taught and practiced to ensure students perform well on the AP Chemistry Exam. I will identify and describe activities I use to teach students some of the Learning Objectives that I tie into this unit.

AP Chemistry Sequence

Kristen Drury | Wed, 09/25/2019 - 09:36

The new AP Chemistry Course and Exam Description (CED) has been released and in effect for a few months now. Several teachers have asked me “Will you be changing your sequence to match the CED?”.

AP Classroom: Leveraging the PPCs

Melissa Hemling | Sat, 09/07/2019 - 19:16

It is back-to-school time! I started school on September 3rd so I am just getting back into my school “groove.”  On August 1st, College Board released its new AP Classroom platform (myap.collegeboard.org). While exploring this new online resource, I couldn’t help but reflect on how I teach AP Chemistry and what changes I will make in light of AP Classroom to ensure this year will be a great one!

Gibbs Free Energy Analogy

Kristen Drury | Thu, 04/04/2019 - 08:37

A common topic in chemistry discussion groups and forums is about the use of the terms “spontaneous reaction” versus “thermodynamic favorability”. This is a new activity for chemistry students who struggle with the correlation between changes in enthalpy, temperature, entropy, and the Gibbs free energy of a system; which relies on an analogy that most students will be familiar with.

How I Fell in Love with PES

Melissa Hemling | Mon, 02/25/2019 - 19:28

Like many AP Chemistry teachers, Melissa Hemling was not fond of teaching Photoelectron Spectroscopy (PES). Surprisingly, she fell in love with teaching PES in AP Chemistry after making an old-school change.

Boltzmann Bucks—Helping Students Conceptualize Entropy

Ben Meacham | Tue, 01/29/2019 - 16:43

If you are looking to go beyond using traditional, arguably misleading, definitions of entropy involving “disorder” and “messy bedroom” analogies, the Boltzmann Bucks game fits the bill. The game, pulled from a Journal of Chemical Education article, provides a wonderful opportunity for students to more accurately conceptualize entropy.