New Resources from the 2018 AACT AP Chemistry Content Writing Team

This past summer AACT hosted an AP Chemistry Content Writing Team to create AP chemistry focused teaching resources for our High School Classroom Resource Library. The four teachers chosen focused on creating teaching resources directly related to the Learning Objectives for the topics of intermolecular forces, photoelectron spectroscopy, Coulomb’s Law, electrolysis, reaction mechanisms, and kinetics. This week we are publishing the first resources from two of our content team members.

Redox Titrations

Christine Taylor, a teacher at Christ Church Episcopal School in Greenville, South Carolina focused on Big Idea 3 for her first lesson, specifically Learning Objective 3.9. In her lesson plan, Redox Titrations, students review oxidation states, half-reactions, balancing reactions and understand how to complete calculations and perform a redox titration.

The lesson begins with a colorful demonstration, Chemical Chameleon, which allows students to observe the color changes that occur as manganese changes oxidation states. Students then work in groups to complete a redox titration guided inquiry activity which can be used to introduce or review oxidation reduction reactions. Following the activity, students will complete the Analysis of Hydrogen Peroxide with Potassium Permanganate lab. An alternate virtual lab is provided for those who do not have the equipment to perform this lab. There is an answer key available for both the guided inquiry activity and the lab.

Coulomb’s Law

Melissa Hemling, a teacher at Beaver Dam High School in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin concentrated on Learning Objectives 1.8 and 2.14 for her lesson plan, Coulomb's Law. This lesson includes an activity to engage your students, a computer simulation to help them explore Coulomb’s Law, and a guided inquiry activity to help them elaborate on the topic.

Students begin the lesson by using magnets to see and feel attractive and repulsive forces. Next, they use a Coulomb’s Law computer simulation to qualitatively develop Coulomb’s Law and learn about the variables that effect forces of attraction. A guided inquiry activity then leads them through an exploration of the forces of attraction that hold the ionic crystal together and make connections to lattice energy trends. All of the activities include an answer key and detailed teacher notes.

We hope that you find these resources useful with your AP Chemistry classes. More great AP resources created by this content writing team will be published in October, November and December. If you have an AP Chemistry resource that you’d like to share with the AACT community, please send it along for consideration.