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At Chem Ed 2015, a teacher from Texas showed me this quick and dirty way to do a distillation that the kids can do. I forgot her name. "Lady from Texas", let me just say "thank you". If you are reading this, please shoot me an email and I will be more than happy to give you credit. It worked really well.
Most chemical educators will agree that exciting demonstrations are excellent motivators to create interest in science. They are also a way to create interest in the community, motivate the student-demonstrators, and perhaps to make a little money to support special activities of an ACS Chem Club. Chemical demonstration shows, organized around holidays or other special occasions have a long and honored history. Pacifica High School (Garden Grove, CA) took its inspiration from the lecture-demonstrations of Michael Faraday, given during the Christmas holidays of 1860-61. (The Chemical History of A Candle).
Have you ever worked with someone on a project and you couldn’t get a hold of them? Or you realized, a bit too late, that they need extra reminders to get stuff done? Oh, and by the way, how did that guy get to be in charge? As adults, we can probably remember more than one situation where this has happened. Maybe it was in school, maybe it’s in your job.
For anyone out there looking to do any screen recording may have already invested in Camtasia. If not, I highly reccommend investing in it. I just ran the latest update for Camtasia for mac and it now offers the capability to record directly to your mobile apple device.
Last year, I worked hard to teach my students how to fail and I believe it was the most important lesson they could have taken away from my class.
“I wish I knew then what I know now.” How often do you reflect on your first year of teaching? When I run into a student from my first few years, I catch myself hiding behind a clothes rack or ducking down the frozen food aisle. I’m embarrassed.
Recently, I saw this really funny meme on facebook about the creative process. I think it also sums up designing and sustaining students in long term inquiry:
How does the blue to white color change occur in the foam of Scrubbing Bubbles or KABOOM Brand cleaners? Watch this video and find out.
Welcome back y'all! The beginning of the year is so exciting! I feel energized and look forward to meeting my new students. My classroom is neat and tidy, even my lab is organized and clean. And then, it begins. We do a lab, the students get to experience chemistry through some hands-on work, and I need to see what they have learned. Oh, the lab reports!
CLEAPSS is a subscription service, but our YouTube Channnel is an open source. The videos are designed for teachers and technicians in schools. They may just give you ideas. I have just put one up about electrostatics and the effect of magnets on water and oxygen. In a couple of weeks I hope to have a sequel showing the effect of magnets on precipitates and complexes.