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In My Element | March 2019 An Unplanned Journey to Middle School Science TeacherThe AACT Middle School Ambassador describes her somewhat unplanned journey to becoming a middle school science teacher. Her enthusiasm and passion for teaching students at this level are evident as she shares her experiences with the reader.
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Nuts & Bolts | March 2019 Applying Retrieval Practice Techniques in the ClassroomThis article describes the author’s efforts to increase opportunities in her daily teaching practice for students to actively engage in practicing and retrieving information. Research has shown that these activities are very beneficial to long-term learning.
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Resource Feature | March 2019 Magic Monday: Inspiring Students to Observe and Question in ChemistryThe article describes the author’s use of demonstrations to spark interest and investigation in chemistry. This teaching strategy has been both valuable and popular with her students.
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Chemistry Fun | March 2019 An Element Fill-In PuzzleIn this activity, students will solve a puzzle by using element symbols from the periodic table to fill-in missing letters.
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Tech Tips | March 2019 Creating YouTube Tutorial Channels for Student SuccessThe authors share their success with creating chemistry tutorial videos and posting them on YouTube in order to support students outside of the classroom.
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Simulation | March 2019 Predicting ProductsIn this simulation, students will reference an activity series and a solubility chart to accurately predict the products of single replacement and double replacement chemical reactions. Associated particle diagrams will be displayed to help students better comprehend the reaction at the particulate level. Students will also be asked to balance the chemical equation. The simulation is designed as a five question quiz for students to use multiple times.
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Chemistry Fun | November 2018 Elemental Mix-UpIn 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.
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Nuts & Bolts | November 2018 A Groovy NGSS Phenomenon for Chemistry ConceptsIn this article, the authors demonstrate how an existing middle school chemistry curriculum can be easily modified toward an NGSS storyline. The article highlights lesson shift toward the “groovy phenomenon” of a lava lamp to engage students in chemistry concepts such as density, heat transfer, particle motion, and phases of matter. NGSS practices in modeling for understanding and arguing from evidence are highlighted.
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Editorial | November 2018 Pursuing GrowthThe 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.
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Resource Feature | November 2018 Taking Inspiration from the AP Chemistry ReadingIn this article, the author describes how her experience at the AP Chemistry Reading inspires lesson ideas to help address common misconceptions. In her engaging classroom activity, students model equilibrium reactions using chips to represent atoms in an effort to connect the symbolic model of an equilibrium reaction to its particle model.
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Video | November 2018 Frontiers of ChemistryThis 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.
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Classroom Commentary | November 2018 Working Together toward Vertical AlignmentThe 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.
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In My Element | November 2018 The Grass Really Is GreenerThe author describes how he transitioned from drowning as a teacher in the United States, to cruising as an international school teacher.
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Classroom Commentary | November 2018 Successful Collaboration, Fostered by the American Chemical SocietyThis 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.
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Nuts & Bolts | September 2018 Instant Feedback on QuizzesIn 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!
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Nuts & Bolts | September 2018 Designing Effective Multiple-Choice Items in ChemistryMultiple-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.
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Classroom Commentary | September 2018 Reflections of an AP Chemistry Exam ReaderThis 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.
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Simulation | September 2018 States of Matter and Phase ChangesIn 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.
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In My Element | September 2018 How Collaboration Helped Transform My Teaching CareerA teacher describes her teaching journey and how she plans to prepare for her first year in the high school chemistry classroom.
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Resource Feature | September 2018 Chemistry of Lightsticks: Determination of Activation Energy, a Guided Inquiry ApproachLightsticks, 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.
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Chemistry Fun | September 2018 Chemistry Basics Crossword PuzzlesIn this activity, students will complete a crossword puzzle by solving each clue that is related to a fundamental chemistry topic.
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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.
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Nuts & Bolts | September 2018 Setting the Tone for Safety with Younger StudentsThis 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.
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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.
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Chemistry Fun | May 2018 Hazard SymbolsIn this activity, students will familiarize themselves with common hazard symbols and their meaning.