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Resource Feature | March 2019 Teaching Essential Concepts … with T-Shirt Chromatography
Created by Lindsay Davis

In this article, a teacher shares about her colorful classroom activity for teaching chromatography.
Editorial | March 2019 Colorful Lessons
Created by Heather Weck

The March editorial is guest-authored by the AACT President-Elect, Heather Weck. Heather reflects on how the theme of color has impacted her and inspired her throughout her teaching career.
Simulation | September 2020 Predicting Products
In this simulation, students will reference an activity series and a solubility chart to accurately predict the products of single replacement and double replacement chemical reactions. Associated particle diagrams will be displayed to help students better comprehend the reaction at the particulate level. Students will also be asked to balance the chemical equation. The simulation is designed as a five question quiz for students to use multiple times.
In My Element | March 2019 An Unplanned Journey to Middle School Science Teacher
Created by Laura Celik

The AACT Middle School Ambassador describes her somewhat unplanned journey to becoming a middle school science teacher. Her enthusiasm and passion for teaching students at this level are evident as she shares her experiences with the reader.
Resource Feature | March 2019 Magic Monday: Inspiring Students to Observe and Question in Chemistry
Created by Christine Taylor

The article describes the author’s use of demonstrations to spark interest and investigation in chemistry. This teaching strategy has been both valuable and popular with her students.
Nuts & Bolts | March 2019 Applying Retrieval Practice Techniques in the Classroom
Created by Melanie Bartow Wills

This article describes the author’s efforts to increase opportunities in her daily teaching practice for students to actively engage in practicing and retrieving information. Research has shown that these activities are very beneficial to long-term learning.
Nuts & Bolts | March 2019 Ditch Your Step-by-Step Procedures: Teach Students to Understand the Chemistry
Created by Daniel D. Dulek

In this article, the author describes his emphasis on problem-solving rather than providing step-by-step instructions to students. With the use of examples, he explains how this focus has helped his students develop a deeper understanding of chemistry topics.
Editorial | November 2018 Pursuing Growth
Created by Amiee Modic

The November editorial is guest-authored by the AACT Governing Board DivCHED representative, Amiee Modic. Amiee highlights professional growth opportunities and educates members about the Division of Chemical Education’s technical division, which is available through an ACS membership.
Resource Feature | November 2018 Taking Inspiration from the AP Chemistry Reading
Created by Dusty Carroll

In this article, the author describes how her experience at the AP Chemistry Reading inspires lesson ideas to help address common misconceptions. In her engaging classroom activity, students model equilibrium reactions using chips to represent atoms in an effort to connect the symbolic model of an equilibrium reaction to its particle model.
Classroom Commentary | November 2018 Successful Collaboration, Fostered by the American Chemical Society
Created by Steven Kosmas

This article describes the exciting collaboration between university and high school students and faculty that developed over a decade. The two main components that contribute to this successful partnership are the ChemClub and Science Coaches programs, sponsored by ACS/AACT.
Classroom Commentary | November 2018 Working Together toward Vertical Alignment
Created by Scott J. Hawkins

The author shares his experience organizing a science workshop that connects high school science teachers with elementary school teachers in their same system. During the workshop, high school teachers present labs and activities to help elementary science teachers best prepare their own students. The experience lets teachers collaborate and discuss vertical alignment of their teaching, and be better prepared to work together to provide students with the most effective science education.
In My Element | November 2018 The Grass Really Is Greener
Created by Sean Fisk

The author describes how he transitioned from drowning as a teacher in the United States, to cruising as an international school teacher.
Video | November 2018 Frontiers of Chemistry
This video explores new scientific developments that were made possible by the application of fundamental chemistry concepts. Students will learn about exciting advances in science and technology focused on three main topics: Solar Cells, 3D Printing and Micro Machines.
Nuts & Bolts | November 2018 A Groovy NGSS Phenomenon for Chemistry Concepts
Created by Jessica C. Levine and Emilie Mosko

In this article, the authors demonstrate how an existing middle school chemistry curriculum can be easily modified toward an NGSS storyline. The article highlights lesson shift toward the “groovy phenomenon” of a lava lamp to engage students in chemistry concepts such as density, heat transfer, particle motion, and phases of matter. NGSS practices in modeling for understanding and arguing from evidence are highlighted.
Resource Feature | September 2018 Chemistry of Lightsticks: Determination of Activation Energy, a Guided Inquiry Approach
Created by Susan M. Smith with Adam Kraft

Lightsticks, with their eerie glow, capture the interest of students of every age. Capitalizing on this, the authors describe how they developed and used a guided inquiry approach to help students determine the activation energy of the chemiluminescent reaction in a lightstick. They also describe how they used a Vernier LabQuest 2 system, while acknowledging that any data collection system that allows simultaneous collection of data from light and temperature probes may be used instead. In addtion, they explain how they employed the natural logarithm form of the Arrhenius equation and spreadsheet software.
Editorial | September 2018 Be Inspired!
Created by Sherri Rukes

AACT President Sherri Rukes hopes to inspire members to tap into the great (and growing!) collection of resources and benefits that teachchemistry.org has to offer. She offers ways for teachers to inspire both themselves and others through involvement, collaboration, and contribution to AACT.
In My Element | September 2018 How Collaboration Helped Transform My Teaching Career
Created by Zena McFadden

A teacher describes her teaching journey and how she plans to prepare for her first year in the high school chemistry classroom.
Nuts & Bolts | September 2018 Designing Effective Multiple-Choice Items in Chemistry
Created by Michael Farabaugh

Multiple-choice questions are frequently used in both formal and informal assessments in order to determine if students have mastered specific learning objectives. This article discusses the characteristics of multiple-choice items as well as some guidelines for writing them. It is possible to design multiple-choice items that emphasize conceptual understanding and critical thinking skills. The creation of high-quality assessments can provide useful information about student learning and help teachers make important decisions about instruction.
Simulation | September 2018 States of Matter and Phase Changes
In this simulation, students will participate in a 10 question quiz. Some questions will challenge students to analyze data to identify the correct state of matter for a specific sample, and then connect the chosen state with an animated particle diagram. In addition, students will examine the behavior of particles in an animated sample as they undergo a phase change, and must correctly identify the change that occurs.
Classroom Commentary | September 2018 Reflections of an AP Chemistry Exam Reader
Created by Kristen Drury

This article describes a chemistry teacher’s experience as a Reader for the AP chemistry exam. She shares some reflections, pointers, and insights to help guide other AP Chemistry teachers in hopes of helping them prepare their students to achieve mastery on the exam.
Nuts & Bolts | September 2018 Setting the Tone for Safety with Younger Students
Created by Susan Bickel

This article outlines the basic considerations for lab safety in the elementary science classroom. Sample student safety contracts are provided by the author for teacher use.
Nuts & Bolts | September 2018 Instant Feedback on Quizzes
Created by Daniel D. Dulek

In this article, a high school teacher describes his successful implementation of a system for providing students with instant feedback on their chemistry quizzes. This idea can be easily implemented in your classroom too!
Tech Tips | May 2018 Experimenting with Electronic Lab Notebooks
Created by Melanie Wills

The author describes her efforts to implement and effectively use electronic notebooks to capture lab work in regular, advanced, and AP chemistry classes.
Classroom Commentary | May 2018 The AP Chem Exam is Over - Now What?
Created by Robert R Gotwals Jr.

This article discusses a short course in computational chemistry, designed for AP Chemistry teachers and students, primarily to be used for chemistry enrichment following the completion of the AP Chemistry exam.
Simulation | May 2018 Reaction Rates
In the May 2018 simulation, students investigate several factors that can affect the initial rate of a chemical reaction, including concentration, temperature, surface area of the reactants, and addition of a catalyst.