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The March 2019 Xchange

Dear Readers,

I hope you are enjoying this International Year of the Periodic Table (IYPT) celebration as much as I am! There is no shortage of opportunities to share the excitement with your students. Of course, you can find a few ways to do just that on ChemEd X! Don't miss Tom Kuntzleman's tribute to IYPT! His Chemistry is Everywhere song/video is fantastic! Also, our lead article below outlines a collaboration between a chemist and a high school teacher intended to inspire students with an Element of the Month program. The first article provides background information about the project. They will also outline the program for each specific monthly program and the element that is being highlighted. Watch for these through the rest of 2019! First up is SODIUM. I invite you to share what you are doing to celebrate IYPT! Check out our  for info on how to share.

Let's Celebrate!

Deanna

 

     

A chemist and a high school chemistry teacher collaborated to put together a monthly program for students in hopes of instilling an appreciation for the organization of the periodic table and the properties of elements we encounter throughout our lives. In honor of IYPT, they are sharing the details of each monthy program with ChemEd X. 

Read their first element specific article in the series:

     

Tom Kuntzleman wrote a song in tribute to the International Year of the Periodic Table that you do not want to miss! Check out the video! If you would like to sing the song with your students, the lyrics are in the appendix!
     

Watch the videos and test your chemistry knowledge to try to come up with an explanation for the chemistry behind the color changing demo.

Check out the .
     

PES is a relatively new topic for many high school chemistry teachers. The author was uncomfortable with teaching it until she made an old-school adjustment to an activity that many of us have been using.
     

After two years of working the AP Chemistry Reading, the author shares some valuable tips for teachers and students as they prepare for the AP Exam coming up in May.
     

Many members of the ChemEd X community, I am working to teach and assess the Next Generation Science Standards. This article aims to introduce readers to four of the high-impact shifts in mindset and practices that may help your students learn to be better scientists.
     

Trends related to placement of elements on the periodic table are often taught using diagrams in a textbook. Students often memorize trends, but to get a true grasp of their meaning and what causes certain patterns is best understood when students create their own models and discuss the patterns with others.
     

Using this "glow and grow" strategy in place of a normal argumentation session will help students refine their work outlining their claims, evidence and reasoning. 
     

This strategy has been very helpful in establishing relevance to topics taught and in making connections between topics taught within a unit. It also provides a way for students to ask questions and make written explanations of phenomena that are “Science and Engineering Practices” of NGSS.

     

The March 2019 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online to subscribers. Be sure to check out Mary Saecker’s round-up of the whole February issue along with related articles from the archives.
     

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