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Editorial | November 2018 Pursuing Growth
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.
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.
Classroom Commentary | November 2018 Working Together toward Vertical Alignment
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.
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.
Nuts & Bolts | September 2018 Setting the Tone for Safety with Younger Students
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.
Chemistry Fun | September 2018 Chemistry Basics Crossword Puzzles
In this activity, students will complete a crossword puzzle by solving each clue that is related to a fundamental chemistry topic.
Nuts & Bolts | September 2018 Instant Feedback on Quizzes
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!
In My Element | September 2018 How Collaboration Helped Transform My Teaching Career
A teacher describes her teaching journey and how she plans to prepare for her first year in the high school chemistry classroom.
Resource Feature | September 2018 Chemistry of Lightsticks: Determination of Activation Energy, a Guided Inquiry Approach
Lightsticks, with their eerie glow, capture the interest of students of every age. The authors describe how students use a guided inquiry approach to determine the activation energy for the glowstick reaction!
Editorial | September 2018 Be Inspired!
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.
Nuts & Bolts | September 2018 Designing Effective Multiple-Choice Items in Chemistry
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.
Classroom Commentary | September 2018 Reflections of an AP Chemistry Exam Reader
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 | May 2018 Strategies for Teaching SPED and EL Students in the Chemistry Classroom
The article explores several different strategies for teaching EL and SPED students in the high school chemistry classroom.
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.
Classroom Commentary | May 2018 The AP Chem Exam is Over - Now What?
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.
Chemistry Fun | May 2018 Hazard Symbols
In this activity, students will familiarize themselves with common hazard symbols and their meaning.
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.
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 Experimenting with Electronic Lab Notebooks
The author describes her efforts to implement and effectively use electronic notebooks to capture lab work in regular, advanced, and AP chemistry classes.
Chemistry Fun | March 2018 Laboratory Equipment Memory Game
In this activity, students will play a modified version of the classic Memory Game in order to help them identify common laboratory equipment by name. This activity provides an opportunity for students to increase their familiarity with the laboratory equipment that they will be expected to properly use.
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.
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.
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.