How many of you could recite, word for word, a definition you learned in school? When you first memorized the definition, you could state “inertia is a property of matter”, or “density is mass over volume.” However, you struggled to apply it to a new situation and maybe you were unsure of how to construct a model of what it meant.
Producing Tomorrow’s Adaptable Chemist
The April 2019 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online to subscribers. Topics featured in this issue include: Machine Learning; Revised International System of Units; Examining Chemical Information Literacy; Flipped Teaching; Chemistry and Business; Learning about Safety; Researched-Based Courses; Effective Teaching Resources; Learning through Play; Exploring Water Treatment; Green Chemistry Laboratories; Experiments with NMR Spectroscopy; Investigating Kinetics; Computer-Based Experiences; From the Archive: Chemists Celebrate Earth Week 2019—Take Note: The Chemistry of Paper.
The author explains how she assigns roles for her students while completing laboratory work. The lab activity is designed to allow students to explore the use of indicators. It serves as an introduction to acids, bases and pH.
Did you know there is a simple test you can do to see if an alkaline battery is fresh or dead? All you need to do is bounce the bottom of a battery onto a hard, flat surface. Guess what causes this difference in bouncing ability between fresh and dead batteries? Chemistry, of course!
Given a guiding question, students determined what they wanted to test, did the experiment and got their CER boards ready for review. Instead of a regular argumentation session, we had a glow and grow session, where students had to provide positive and negative feedback for each board.
The June, 2018 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education contains an article that describes a simple, yet fascinating experiment that you and your students are going to love! It involves the use of butterfly wings from the genus Morpho. I obtained some of these wings and enjoyed experimenting with them. You will too!
Ninety-Six Years New
The January 2019 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online to subscribers. Topics featured in this issue include: chemical biology, innovative curriculum for the classroom and laboratory, promoting effective teaching methods in organic chemistry, improving student conceptual models, cost-effective and low-waste equipment and experiments, using instructional videos to teach, exploring materials science, instrumental analytical experiments, organic chemistry laboratories, research on success in chemistry, from the archives: anodizing.
I came across an interesting Journal of Chemical Education article that explains how it is possible to crosslink sodium alginate, leading to the formation of calcium alginate beads. Calcium alginate beads are hydrogels and one of their uses is to immobilize enzymes in their structure. I thought it would be cool to immobilize some lactase enzyme onto calcium alginate beads and investigate its ability to hydrolyze lactose.
I am already planning for my trip to Illinois in July to attend ChemEd 2019! Let me tell you why I want to attend.
In an effort to align an old VSEPR lesson to NGSS, I told my students that we were going to look at the data available from the real molecules on the pHET simulation we were using and specifically look for patterns. Finding patterns is a cross-cutting concept; one of the three dimensions of NGSS.
