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51 – 75 of 221 Articles

Classroom Commentary | November 2018 Successful Collaboration, Fostered by the American Chemical Society
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.
In My Element | November 2018 The Grass Really Is Greener
The author describes how he transitioned from drowning as a teacher in the United States, to cruising as an international school teacher.
Chemistry Fun | November 2018 Elemental Mix-Up
In this activity, students will test their knowledge of the periodic table as they attempt to unscramble element names and use select letters to solve a mystery message.
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.
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.
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.
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. 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.
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
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
Chemistry Fun | May 2018 Hazard Symbols
In this activity, students will familiarize themselves with common hazard symbols and their meaning.
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.
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.
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.
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.