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As I follow the conversations about the most recent chemistry classroom accident in Manhattan (see my previous blog post), I see that many agree that we need to advocate for adequate required safety training of our present and pre-service teachers. A good starting point is to pursue training on our own.
When it is cold outside...why not blow bubbles?
It has happened again. We just published a “Lab Accidents” blog with a link to the US Chemical Safety Board’s video entitled “After the Rainbow” published December 10, 2013. Less than a month later, a young boy has experienced the same nightmare scenario as the one described in the video.
The national ACS James Bryant Conant award was established in 1965 to encourage and recognize outstanding high school chemistry teachers. Candidates are chosen based upon evidence of high quality teaching, ability to challenge and inspire, extracurricular activities that support their work and pursuit of continued improvement of their role as an educator.
Chemistry teachers are always looking for new ideas to reach students. Social media is a new frontier to reach students AND collaborate with other chemistry teachers around the world 24/7. I hesitated to join Twitter because it seemed like "just one more thing to add to my plate". I did finally log on and created an account.
The US Chemical Safety Board is an independent federal agency in Washington DC. They investigate industrial accidents. They just released a video of a young woman speaking about a high school chemistry class accident she was a victim of.
When the outside temperature drops below 0°F (-18°C), the conditions tempt this experiment!
In my grad program one of our discussions concerned how to teach science the way science is actually done. This seems to be one of the core ideas in the Next Generation Science Standards. The standards want to encourage students to think more like scientists and engineers as opposed to students seeking an A. Please share your thoughts!
My ChemClub students came to my room for a holiday celebration today. We made a batch of sea foam candy, experimented with Elephant Toothpaste, and marbled gift tags.