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Resource Feature | May 2018 Embracing Chemistry in the Elementary Classroom
This article discusses why it's important for K-5 teachers to overcome the fear of teaching chemistry, and gives some simple suggestions on how to start.
Tech Tips | May 2018 Use Moodle to Score Lab Calculations Instantly
One of the greatest time demands for chemistry teachers is the assessment of lab work. With a little bit of preparation, you can program Moodle (a widely available and free learning management system used by many schools) to correct students’ lab calculations and provide immediate feedback. The author walks through an example using a simple stoichiometry exercise used with his 11th grade general chemistry students.
Nuts & Bolts | May 2018 Using Learning Progressions to Improve Scientific Modeling in Chemistry
This article describes how to use learning progressions to transform your existing modeling activities to help students construct and use models as a generative tool for predicting and explaining phenomena. In the process, the models become a learning tool, rather than just a means to illustrate understanding.
Editorial | May 2018 Refresh and Refocus through Reflection
Jenelle Ball reflects on both her school year and her time as the AACT Governing Board President. She highlights some newly-implemented and improved member benefits as well as some particular resources that she valued this year. She hopes all teachers will take time as the school year comes to an end to also reflect on their lessons learned and refocus for the future.
Resource Feature | March 2018 Recasting Chemistry Labs with Forensic Themes
This article discusses several examples of how forensic scenarios can be added to tried-and-true chemistry labs. The author also provides several example lab activities for the audience to use in their own classrooms.
In My Element | March 2018 My Long, Circuitous Route to Teaching Chemistry
The author shares his journey from liberal arts, to the sciences, and back to the chemistry classroom.
Editorial | March 2018 The Importance of Outreach
AACT President-Elect Sherri Rukes shares thoughts about her experience doing outreach in the chemistry teaching community. She is an enthusiastic promoter of chemistry across all grade levels, and encourages others to follow a similar path.
Simulation | March 2018 Chemical Reactions and Stoichiometry
In this simulation, students practice classifying different chemical reactions, balancing equations, and solving stoichiometry problems.
Classroom Commentary | March 2018 The Science Coaches Program in Action
This article describes the very successful Science Coaches partnership between a third-grade teacher and a Ph.D. chemist, who is also her father. The authors offer insight and tips for making the best use of a Science Coach partnership, or any science visitor to your classroom.
Nuts & Bolts | March 2018 21st Century Skills in High School Chemistry
This article discusses the changing trends in science education, with a focus on the need for implementing 21st century skills into the science curriculum, and some techniques for doing so.
Classroom Commentary | March 2018 Part II: Rethinking Common Practices in High School Chemistry
This article is Part II of a series that aims at rethinking common practices in the high school chemistry curriculum. The first article in this series was published in the November 2017 issue. This article describes the shortcomings with the “5 Reaction Types” classification scheme and provides an alternative organization to the study of chemical reactions.
Resource Feature | March 2018 Teaching Beyond the Cookbook
Inquiry lab experiences provide students with a wider context for understanding the material presented in the classroom while improving student engagement and giving them a more authentic science experience. If you want to include more aspects of inquiry in your laboratory experiences, but lack the time and money to test brand new labs, this article provides specific tools and ideas for adding inquiry experiences to your own labs.
Nuts & Bolts | November 2017 Integrating NGSS and STEM in the Classroom
As an educator interested in sharing your love of science with your students, how do you incorporate the NGSS and STEM in your classroom? The answer is simple. STEM and NGSS are inherently intertwined, which makes the implementation of NGSS easier. Here is a step-by-step process for how to integrate NGSS and STEM in your chemistry classroom.
Simulation | November 2017 Predicting Shifts in Equilibrium: Q vs K
In this simulation, students will take a 15 question quiz. Each quiz question has two parts. The first part requires the student to calculate the value of the reaction quotient, Q. In the second portion of the question, the students will compare the value of Q to the equilibrium constant, K, and predict which way the reaction will shift to reach equilibrium. The simulation includes five different reactions which each have three scenarios: Q > K, Q = K, and Q < K.
Classroom Commentary | November 2017 Part I: Rethinking Common Practices in High School Chemistry
The physical vs. chemical change dichotomy and criteria for classification often taught early in chemistry courses should be removed or delayed until students have a more thorough understanding of the particulate nature of matter.
Resource Feature | November 2017 A Particulate Representation of Molarity
In addition to using a simple activity about investigating the differences Kool-Aid concentration and completing molarity calculations, students work with pictures at the particle level to develop a deeper understanding of solutions and molarity.
Nuts & Bolts | November 2017 TMI (Too Much Information) in Science
In an age when information comes at us at breakneck-speed, how do we help our students deal with science outside the confines of their standard curriculum — and think critically about alternative arguments to questionable research data?
Nuts & Bolts | November 2017 Developing Students’ Chemistry Information Skills
Digital literacy is a key skill for 21^st century learners, and secondary students need to learn to select appropriate sources when conducting a literature search in chemistry. The author describes an experiential activity to provide experience in searching and assessing chemical information. Using a science news article, students learn to formulate and refine a search question in order to obtain a manageable number of relevant references.
Editorial | November 2017 Lone Ranger, No More!
AACT Governing Board member Jenny Bishoff shares her experience connecting with other teachers of chemistry and encourages members to get involved.
Classroom Commentary | September 2017 One Teacher’s Journey on the Path to Modeling Instruction
This article describes a teacher’s journey and reflections over her 27-year career as she moved from a traditional chemistry classroom to one using modeling instruction techniques. To illustrate a central insight she gained along her journey, she describes one activity in particular, Sticky Tape. In this activity, students find evidence for charged particles smaller than an atom, and the discussion after the activity ultimately leads them to the subatomic particle we know as the electron. Making the move to incorporating modeling instruction transformed the author’s classroom and teaching style, and her students are now much more engaged in their own learning.
Editorial | September 2017 Lift as You Climb
AACT President Jenelle Ball highlights many of the exciting benefits of AACT membership as the organization approaches its third year in existence. She encourages members to get involved, and also promotes many of the valuable resources and opportunities that AACT makes available. Jenelle shares her own plan for incorporating resources in her classroom this year, and also offers suggestions about how teachers can use the wide variety of benefits to enhance their own teaching.
Resource Feature | September 2017 Increasing Student Comprehension of VSEPR Theory
In the activity described in this article, students construct physical models of molecular shapes. However, students are not told what the preferred arrangements of electron pair domains are. Instead, they derive the arrangements. Students are given the opportunity to conceptualize what is happening when one electron pair domain acts upon another, and to understand how those interactions result in the molecular geometries predicted by VSEPR theory. As an outcome of examining the physical basis of the VSEPR model, students should have a much better grasp of the implications of electron pair repulsions on molecular shape, and should be better able to understand, communicate, and apply that understanding.
In My Element | September 2017 Something Happened on My Way to Becoming a Rock Star…
A teacher shares her story about her unconventional path to teaching chemistry. Read about a once-hopeful Broadway star who began college as a music major eventually evolved into a passionate high school chemistry teacher.
Simulation | September 2017 Measuring Volume
In this simulation, students will participate in a 10 question quiz. The quiz questions are each made of two parts, with the first part requiring the student to analyze an image of a graduated cylinder in order to report an accurate measurement. Students must use the correct number of digits based on the markings presented on the cylinder when reporting the measurement. In the second portion of the question the students will determine the uncertainty value of the graduated cylinder, again by analyzing its markings. The simulation is made up of several different sizes of graduated cylinders, each containing unique markings, so students will be challenged to analyze each individually.
Nuts & Bolts | September 2017 Embracing Chemical Literacy
Chemical literacy has been a journey and a struggle — both of which the author has enjoyed. The struggle has ultimately improved her teaching, and in this article, her intention is to share ideas for improving the chemical literacy of students in various ways.