November 2023 Xchange

The November 2023 Xchange highlights just some of the contributions that have recently been published on ChemEd X. We hope you will take a moment to check in and see what you may have missed. 

Burning paper towels soaked in various metal nitrates Igniting paper towels that have been soaked in concentrated potassium nitrate and allowed to dry yields a flame reminiscent of that produced by guncotton. Repeating this experiment with other metal nitrates produces flames with different colors, plus a few other chemical surprises!
	My Modified Grading Strategy Anthony Stetzenmeyer's grading strategy provides an alternative option to offering required retakes on summative assessments. It has the added bonus of helping his AP chemistry students prepare for the AP exam while learning to cut their losses.
Lets’ Get Real: The Law of Definite Proportions Demonstrate the Law of Definite Proportions by quickly and easily preparing one or more esters!
	Unit Cells and Layer Sequences using Dimpled Packaging Regularly dimpled trays such as those used in food packaging can be used to represent layers of atoms in solid structures. For example, the square array of dimples in transparent plastic mini quiche trays can be used to depict layers within cubic or tetragonal unit cells. Multiple solid structures and ways to represent those structures are described.
Geometric Approach to Lewis Structures Highlighting this previously published post from June 2017 - Lauren Stewart discusses why she is having her students build 3-D models BEFORE teaching them to draw Lewis structures.
	Using Phenomena in Testing Nora Walsh reflects on her experience using phenomena in her chemistry courses and assessments for the first time.
ChemEd X Call for Contributions ChemEd X invites practitioners in the chemical education community to share their experiences, knowledge and the resources they use in their classroom and laboratory.

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