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Nuts & Bolts | May 2022 Strategies for Equitable Student Collaboration using Jamboard
In this article the author explains how she recently incorporated a Driving Questions Board and Activity Summary Board using Jamboard in her chemistry classroom. She shares about her purpose for shifting her teaching approach in order to integrate these strategies for equitable student collaboration.
Tech Tips | March 2022 Teaching Chemistry in a Blended Learning Classroom: When to Go Digital and What to Take Offline
In this article, the author discusses the blended chemistry classroom and provides recommendations for three instances when it is best to use digital teaching strategies, and three instances where offline approaches are most effective. Technology is an integral part to modern teaching, as evidenced by the emphasis placed on blended learning in many schools and classrooms. In order to effectively teach chemistry in a blended environment, however, it is crucial to know when technology is a benefit and when to stick with non-digital tools and activities.
Resource Feature | March 2022 The Online Summer Food Lab
Two teachers at an independent high school share about their inaugural experience designing and teaching a two-week summer mini-course, Chemistry of Cooking. This course, among others, was designed to engage incoming students with academic material, offer an opportunity to explore a topic of interest, and help students get to know each other and their teachers before the start of the school year. The authors were excited that it was also their own opportunity to learn about food chemistry — a new chemistry topic to explore beyond the scope of the usual tenth-grade course curriculum. In this article, they share about planning and designing the course, as well as ideas for how teachers might incorporate aspects of it into a homeschool, virtual, hybrid, or in-person chemistry classroom.
Resource Feature | March 2022 Cleaning Up the Lab
In this article, the author discusses how the pandemic has created what might be an unobvious challenge for science teachers in many schools: a lack of custodial staff to help with keeping the lab space clean. With this in mind, she teaches her students the basics of cleaning up after a lab activity in order to make this behavior a part of their lab routine all year long.
Classroom Commentary | November 2021 Arousing the Spirit of Inquiry
Stories from the history of chemistry can serve as rich and stimulating complements to standard curricula in K-12 chemistry classrooms. Yet even when chemistry teachers have the curricular flexibility to build history lessons into their classes, students can often find this content dry or inaccessible. At the same time, fewer and fewer science centers and museums present content and artifacts on historical chemistry that educators can use to supplement classroom teaching. As ACS celebrates the 100th anniversary of the creation of its Division of the History of Chemistry, this essay reflects on the long-standing desire of chemistry teachers to weave history into chemistry classrooms, particularly by introducing students to the discipline’s material culture. This article highlights the work of the Science History Institute to share artifact- and image-driven stories from the history of chemistry on a digital platform.
Tech Tips | November 2021 Get Jammin’ in Chemistry!
In this article, the author reflects on her use of Jamboard in the high school chemistry classroom. She shares tips and tricks for integrating Jamboard as an instructional tool for teaching both in-person and remotely. She also includes videos of Jamboard in action, as well as examples of graphics and templates that can be used in your own classroom.
Nuts & Bolts | November 2021 Real-World Chemistry Learning Opportunities Are Right outside Your Door!
How can we help students see the connections between various fields of study which are traditionally taught separately? With the Next Generation Science Standards in hand, and eyes newly opened to a multitude of resources, a chemistry teacher took his students to learn at a local wastewater treatment plant. It left a lasting impression.
Resource Feature | September 2021 An Inquiry Activity: Mixture Separation Challenge
In this article, the author shares about her use of a hands-on inquiry activity to assess students’ content knowledge. The activity tasks small groups of students with developing and conducting an experimental procedure to separate a mixture provided by the teacher. Read the article to learn more and to access the activity for use in your own classroom!
Classroom Commentary | September 2021 Heterogeneous Chemistry Classrooms: Experiments in Desegregation
How do we create community in a diverse chemistry classroom? How can our classroom dynamics lead to greater social justice in chemistry? ACS Conant Award winner Shea Wickelson shares stories and ideas from her experience teaching de-tracked high school chemistry.
Nuts & Bolts | May 2021 Chemistry Experiments at Home
In this article, a teacher shares about how she successfully completed lab experiments with students while they were learning at home during the Covid-19 pandemic. The author describes how careful planning allowed her to provide students with all the necessary materials for each lab experiment. Additionally, she explains how lab set-ups can be easily modified with substituted materials, while still providing a valuable learning experience for students.
Classroom Commentary | May 2021 The Value of Integrating Real-World Projects in Science
The author of this article pulls from her experience as both a teacher and a water specialist at a government agency to inspire readers to connect real-world science learning opportunities in the classroom.
Nuts & Bolts | March 2021 Chemistry Semester Exam Redesign
In this article, the author shares about her experience redesigning a traditional multiple-choice chemistry semester exam to an authentic assessment for her Honors Chemistry students. Motivated to create an assessment made up of more thought-provoking questions, and encouraged by the style of the AP chemistry exam, she shares example questions, grading rubrics and overall feedback related to the redesign and implementation.
Tech Tips | March 2021 How to Use Online Forms and Surveys to Enhance Remote Learning
In this article, the author describes how the remote learning setting can be challenging for teachers. The inability to observe students’ body language and other types of real-time feedback can make it difficult to plan ahead and adjust lessons on the fly. With this in mind, the author shares some practical ways to use online forms and surveys to both engage students in remote learning and gain more real-time feedback on lesson comprehension.
Nuts & Bolts | March 2021 Beneficial Classroom Strategies for Teaching in a Pandemic and Beyond
Teaching during the pandemic has challenged teachers to find new ways to help students learn chemistry. In this article, AACT Middle School Ambassador Jennifer Smith describes several teaching methods that have been successful in her classroom. These strategies include weekly student check-in surveys, providing students with audio feedback, and creating video instructions for labs. All are easy-to-implement practices that teachers can leverage both during and after the pandemic
Nuts & Bolts | March 2021 Remote Teaching Strategies that Will Outlast the Pandemic
In this article, the author reflects on four new teaching practices that he has successfully implemented in response to the current remote learning environment, and shares about how these strategies can continue to be valuable in the future.
Classroom Commentary | November 2020 Online Chemistry: My Top Five Ingredients for Success
In this article, the author discusses the five main ingredients that led to success when she was forced by the COVID-19 pandemic to quickly redesign an in-person accelerated summer chemistry course to instead be delivered online. Twenty students participated in the seven-week accelerated class, which covered the same amount of content as an entire school year of chemistry. Their feedback, as well as that of their parents, is included in this article.
Resource Feature | November 2020 Creative Ways to Conduct Traditional Labs in a Homeschool Environment
In this article, the author shares about creating meaningful lab experiences for chemistry students in a virtual homeschool environment. She discusses how she transformed a traditional lesson plan into a virtual project-based experience for students, following basic four rules. The author encourages other teachers to transform their own content for remote learning, and reassures teachers that doing so is not as difficult as one might think.
Tech Tips | November 2020 Remote Technology Resources in a COVID-19 World
In this article, the author describes three specific technology resources — Flipgrid, Collisions, and Gizmos — that she relied on when the Covid-19 pandemic forced schools to switch to remote-teaching. She highlights the benefits of each platform, and shares examples of her successful experience using each. She concludes that Flipgrid was valuable as it allowed for asynchronous class connections, while Collisions and Gizmos allowed for inquiry-based learning experiences.
Nuts & Bolts | September 2020 Using Sketch Notes in the Chemistry Lab
Sketch noting is an alternate method of flowcharting for chemistry labs. In this article, the author shares about the implementation of sketch notes in her chemistry classroom. Additionally, she highlights specific areas where she has seen improvement by her students, including student safety, laboratory skills, content knowledge, and confidence.
Tech Tips | September 2020 My Favorite Technology Tools for Teaching Chemistry — Remotely and In-Person
In this article, the author highlights her five favorite technology tools for teaching chemistry, both in-person and remotely. She includes examples and tips for effective use — and encourages teachers to incorporate these tools into their own lessons!
Nuts & Bolts | September 2020 Mole of Reaction: Application in Limiting Reactants
In this article, the author describes the use of mole of reaction in limiting reactant calculations in first-year advanced chemistry. In addition to describing how mole of reaction was used in limiting reactant calculations (including advantages and drawbacks), the author also describes how introducing mole of reaction in first-year chemistry impacts students’ subsequent use of this unit in AP Chemistry.
Resource Feature | September 2020 Using an Online Meeting Scavenger Hunt to Offer Kinesthetic Learning
In this article, the author describes her use of an online scavenger hunt activity during remote learning. This activity offers students an engaging opportunity for kinesthetic learning and class discussion, while learning about the chemistry in their everyday life.
Resource Feature | September 2020 Lab Safety Teaching Resources for the Chemistry Classroom
This article provides an introduction to the ACS lab safety videos and demonstrates ways to implement the videos into a 5E lesson plan. Specific resources and activities are provided to integrate safety into chemistry lesson plans.
Nuts & Bolts | September 2020 Engaging Students with a Thinking Routine in Chemistry
Thinking Routines are an effective way to increase engagement and understanding during distance learning. In this article, the author shares about how she uses this tactic to help students think more deeply about the complex content they are actively learning.
Resource Feature | May 2020 Using Escape Rooms in the Chemistry Classroom
In this resource feature article, the author describes her use of two escape room activities in the chemistry classroom. One activity was used in AP Chemistry as an assessment, while the other used in a first-year chemistry class as a test review. She shares her successes, challenges, and lessons learned, and encourages other teachers to try these and other escape room-themed activities in their own classrooms.