(e)Xtend ChemEd X looks outside the resources available at ChemEd X to items of interest to the community throughout the internet.
Xtend includes Picks, which includes a short description of books, articles, journals, magazines, and web items that our contributors and staff find interesting, professional development events, tweets, and news feeds.
You are invited to participate in a zoom meeting hosted by Dr. Melanie J. Harvey, Johnson County Community College, on April 7 at 7:00 pm CST (8:00 pm EST) to discuss Dr. Christopher R. Vyhnal’s paper, “Curricular Materials on the Chemistry of Pottery, Including Thermodynamic Calculations for Redox Reactions in the 3-Stage Firing Process of Athenian Black- and Red-Figure Vases Produced from the Sixth-Fourth Centuries BCE,” published this year in the Journal of Chemical Education. Register early! This ChemEd X Journal Club is limited to the first 50 registrations.
Looking for a great resource for using microscale practices in chemistry class?
Mastery-based grading involves assessing student mastery of a defined set of learning objectives. In this virtual talk the practical implementation of additional assessments, outcomes of student achievement, and lessons learned will be discussed.
Solutions are all around us in life and chemistry class! The presenter for our next ChemBasics Talk, Kristen Vanderveen, will discuss solubility curves, molarity calculations, using particulate level modeling and simulations, making real world connections and so much more. Register for this (FREE) hour long Zoom meeting to be held February 10th, 2022, at 8pm EST.
Chemical Reactions is a topic that unites a number of skills from formula writing, balancing equations, predicting products and solubility to name a few. Our presenter, Sarah English, will explore the phenomenon of burning steel wool in a chemical reactions storyline and show how this topic provides a seamless transition into future concepts such as oxidation and reduction chemistry, organic chemistry and stoichiometry. Register for this (FREE) hour long Zoom meeting to be held January 13th, 2022, at 8pm EST.
Gas Laws are an essential and easily accessible area of chemistry to understand. They can be an excellent foothold into the inner workings of chemistry. In this ChemBasics Talk, Daniel Radoff will be arguing for moving a discussion of gas laws earlier in the school year. He will provide some labs, handouts, demos, and other ideas for ways of teaching this engaging subject. Register for this (FREE) hour long Zoom meeting to be held December 9th at 8pm EST.
Chemical bonding is a pivotal topic in chemistry classes that can be overwhelming for students and teachers alike - so much to teach, so many ways that it can be overwhelming! In this ChemBasics Talk, Nora Walsh will share her favorite activities, tips, and discovery activities for teaching chemical bonding and naming. Join us! Register for this (FREE) hour long Zoom meeting to be held November 4th at 8pm EST.
Learning about the periodic table and how the elements are arranged are both essential to success in chemistry. In this ChemBasics Talk, Rachmad Tjachyadi offers everything necessary to plan a unit on the topic including linked NGSS standards, introductory activities and handouts, student and teacher notes, and manipulative activities. This content will be shared with the new teacher in mind but experienced teachers will find it helpful as well. Register for this hour long Zoom meeting to be held October 7th at 8pm EST.
With COVID creating the need for many virtual conferences over the last year and a half, this upcoming summer may provide the opportunity for teachers to return to face-to-face events. If you are a teacher looking for funding to attend a conference, check out these opportunities offered by the ACS Division of Chemical Education.
The Wisconsin initiative for Science Literacy has published Science Climate Concepts Fit Your Classroom - A Workbook for Teachers. This is a free online Workbook, readily available for secondary teachers and college faculty. This workbook includes many hands on activities that incorporate traditional science classroom concepts within the context of climate science.