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Rust
A great book for summer reading is "Rust: the longest war".Cars rusting! Bridges collapsing! Rust, and corrosion in general, is probably the most important topic that is not on most people's radar....
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My First Day Demonstration
I have a first day routine that I am very proud of. I have used it for 25 years and I think I finally have it down pat. I have spoken to students from 20 years ago at reunions and they tell me that...
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Addressing Student Misconceptions Using Modeling Instruction
As school districts across the country approach the implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards, students will be required to develop models to illustrate what occurs at an atomic level as...
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Storm troopers ain't got nothing on this chemist
You HAVE to build one of these for your chemistry classroom. Your students are going to love this! At this site*, you can learn how to build a propane gun. In the video below, you can see the propane...
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International Writing Across the Curriculum Conference
How can our pedagogy broaden ideas of difference within and beyond the classroom to include social, cultural, linguistic, modal, and media differences, among others? Conference organizers welcome...
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Backwards planning your PBL unit An Overview of an Entire Unit
Last month, I described in my blog how I got into PBL and the happy story about how everything always goes perfectly in my classroom (oh, where’s the sarcasm font when you need it?!!?!??!). Over the...
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Jumprope - Making Grades Irrelevant
Earlier in the summer, I was shopping around for a standards-based gradebook. As the lone teacher at my school venturing into this unchartered territory, I did what any responsible techie teacher...
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Defining Conceptual Understanding in General Chemistry
There have been numerous educational initiatives that have driven the push for helping students develop deep conceptual understanding. One of the difficulties for educators is assessing whether...
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JCE 92.08—August 2015 Issue Highlights
JCE 92.08—August 2015 Issue HighlightsUsing Models and Modeling To TeachThe August 2015 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online to subscribers. This issue includes articles...
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What the MOLE?
What is your definition of the term “mole” in chemistry? Many articles have been written about the term and the confusion surrounding it. It was not considered an SI unit (with an IUPAC definition)...
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Lab Report Feedback, Part 1: Using Drawboard PDF on a Tablet to Provide...
Throughout my 21 previous years as a teacher, I have really struggled to provide meaningful (and timely!) feedback to my students on their lab reports. Teaching IB Chemistry has really forced me to get...
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New PBS Series: The Mystery of Matter
PBS has a wonderful new mini-series titled, "The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements". At the time of this post, the series is freely available to stream through your local PBS station. (The...
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Uranium:Twisting the Dragon's Tail on PBS
I am just now getting caught up on all the things I recorded on my DVR this summer and came across a great two part special on the history of Uranium called “Twisting the Dragon’s Tail”. It was very...
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A Rainbow of Resources for National Chemistry Week
Get ready for a splash of color during this year’s National Chemistry Week (NCW) celebration, October 18–24, 2015. The theme “Chemistry Colors Our World!” gives a chance to explore the chemistry of...
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Happiness is a Chem13 News magazine in my mailbox!
Chem13 News has been an integral part of my teaching bag of tricks for (I hate to admit it) over 20 years! It is something I truly look forward to arriving in my mailbox each month. I read...
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News from the UK
I believe many teachers have started teaching. Best of luck. Our UK teachers start in September, when the weather inexplicably becomes hotter and drier!CLEAPSS is a subscription service, but our...
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And we're back . . . the labs are waiting to be graded . . .
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,...
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What Not To Do Lab
During the first week of school, I welcome my students to the What Not To Do Lab. The PDF is available for free at the Laboratory Safety Institute website. I use the cartoon activity to review...
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Wash Your Blues Away - With Chemistry!
The blue to white color change that occurs in the foam of Scrubbing Bubbles or KABOOM Brand cleaners has always fascinated me. Many times I have wondered how this color change takes place. Inspired by...
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Graph of the Week
Helping students to interpret graphs and analyze them is an important for many reasons. Spending time training students to do just that will help them to become critical thinkers. The Graph of the Week...
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