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ChemEd X contributors offer their ideas and opinions on a broad spectrum of topics pertaining to chemical education.

Blogs at ChemEd X reflect the opinions of the contributors and are open to comments. Only selected contributors blog at ChemEd X. If you would like to blog regularly at ChemEd X, please use our Contribution form to request an invitation to do so from one of our editors.

by Sarah Kong
Mon, 09/29/2014 - 08:14

My husband and I are both chemists, but in very different capacities.  My focus is teaching while he is a lab supervisor.  As such, we have very different discussions when we meet with colleagues.  Usually.  A few weeks ago we attended a meeting together and I felt right at home.  The discussion topic was lab audits.  This is when fellow chemists enter a different lab and make sure that everyon

Comments: 1
Recent activity: 4 years 3 months ago
by Doug Ragan
Mon, 09/22/2014 - 19:53

We teach it, some celebrate it, and we try to make it engaging for our students. What is it? The mole concept and Mole Day! So how do we make it engaging for our students? Let me introduce #molympics.

Comments: 1
Recent activity: 8 months 4 days ago
by Doug Ragan
Mon, 09/22/2014 - 18:25

If you are on Twitter and follow #chemchat, you may have recently seen some beautiful, rotating 3D atomic and molecular models from Dave Doherty @atomsNMolecules. I was curious about these models and after contacting Dave, he introduced me to The Atomic Dashboard.

Comments: 2
Recent activity: 8 months 4 days ago
by Tom Kuntzleman
Mon, 09/22/2014 - 15:17

Congratulations to Grazyna Zreda who solved the Chemical Mystery of the Mentos candies! To conduct this trick, two white Mentos candies are placed in separate beakers that both contain universal indicator.

Comments: 4
Recent activity: 8 months 4 days ago
by Dan Meyers
Mon, 09/22/2014 - 14:45

Here in Michigan we are entering into our 4th week of school. My Honors Chemistry 1 students will be having their first test this week and my Chemistry 2 students will be having their stoichiometry test in 2 weeks. Things are moving along and I am daily observing improvement in my students. 

Comments: 1
Recent activity: 8 months 5 days ago
by Sushama Dandekar
Sun, 09/21/2014 - 18:38

I'm looking for a reliable procedure for an undergraduate organic lab experiment: oxidation of diphenylmethanol to benzophenone.  I am updating our lab experiments and was thinking about introducing phase transfer catalysis, linked to a 2-step Grignard synthesis ( bromobenzene --> phenylmagnesium bromide  -->  diphenylmethanol  --> benzophenone).  I have found a JChem Ed paper that sug

Comments: 1
Recent activity: 4 years 3 months ago
by Tom Kuntzleman
Mon, 09/15/2014 - 15:44

National Chemistry week 2014 will be upon us in a little over a month. As you may have heard in Erica Jacobsen’s posts, this year’s theme is “The Sweet Side of Chemistry – Candy.”

Comments: 2
Recent activity: 3 years 9 months ago
by Sarah Kong
Mon, 09/15/2014 - 12:57

Shelly Belleau is a chemistry and physics teacher from the Denver metro area.  This school year she is working as a teacher on special assignment at the University of Coloroado, Boulder.  Shelly anaitcipates returning to the high school classroom next fall.  Below is our coversation about inquiry.

1.  How do you define inquiry? or What does inquiry look like to you?

Recent activity: 8 months 5 days ago
by Erica Jacobsen
Fri, 09/05/2014 - 13:36

National Chemistry Week this October 19–25 offers a chance to take a trip to the candy shop with the theme "The Sweet Side of Chemistry—Candy." Looking for some tasty chemistry resources? Two upcoming webinars will help you stock up.

 

Recent activity: 8 months 6 days ago
by Deanna Cullen
Thu, 09/04/2014 - 14:45

Another chemistry demonstration accident has happened. This one was at a museum in Nevada. In preliminary reports, it looks as if several children were injured. One child was held overnight in the hospital.

Recent activity: 8 months 4 days ago