Chemistry and the Calendar

The end of February is approaching. This is the time of the year when I look at the calendar and begin to panic. I have so much content left to cover in the curriculum before the end of the year arrives! My anxiety level increases steadily when I think about the upcoming testing season and how it will impact my teaching time. The imminent time crunch in combination with restless students, and countless special school events filling the calendar makes me wonder how I will ever fit everything in before the end of the year. Fortunately, AACT has a variety of resources specifically designed to help reduce my panic when I am planning chemistry lessons for my middle school classroom. There are many K-8 classroom resources available in the AACT Resource Library, and many connect well with other content areas, so teachers can easily incorporate chemistry lessons into their everyday activities.

Many of these resources also have great connections to special events and holidays. For example, on Friday, March 2, students and teachers around the nation will be celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday with a special event, Read Across America. While the event may have a reading focus, this is also an opportunity to highlight exciting chemistry connections. Recently many young students have been interested in making slime and oobleck, so use this timely event as a chance to implement the AACT lesson, Making Slime, in your classroom! Everything you need for a memorable cross curricular lesson is provided. The resource begins with the reading of Dr. Seuss’s book, Bartholomew and the Oobleck. Students then create and test their own Oobleck, and learn about the differences between solids and liquids, as well as chemical reactions. The resource can be easily altered to meet the needs of both elementary and middle school students.

How do you integrate chemistry in your K-8 classroom? I’d love to hear your ideas—please share them on the AACT Discussion Board!