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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.
Classroom Commentary | September 2020 The Importance of Teacher Training and Mentorship
In this article, the author reflects on his experiences related to mentorship and teacher training throughout a 32-year (and counting) career with the Los Angeles Unified School District. He examines several milestone events that led him to serve as a mentor and become involved in teaching training. He emphasizes the importance of both types of support networks, and encourages readers to get involved in their own areas.
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 | 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.
Nuts & Bolts | May 2020 Assessment of Student Modeling and Stages of Thinking
The author shares her experience with modeling in chemistry, and specifically focuses on the assessment of a student´s individual progress with a model. She offers examples and rubrics that address specific components of the model for teacher assessment.
In My Element | May 2020 The Periodic Table of Teaching Experiences
A pre-service teacher's perspective on the challenges and rewards of teaching chemistry, using aspects of the periodic table as analogies.
Editorial | May 2020 Making the Most of an Unwelcomed Interruption
Heather Weck reflects on the successes and challenges of the 2019-2020 school year, as her term as AACT President comes to an end. She shares some of the strategies and resources that have been valuable to her online teaching since the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools across the country. Although it has been an unexpected ending to this school year, she is hopeful in her outlook for the future.
Resource Feature | May 2020 Molecules that Changed the World: A Molecular Modeling Project
In this article, the author shares about a successful culminating project that she uses in her classroom. Students select from an approved list (that ranges in level of difficulty) a molecule that has changed the world. Each molecule is one that they encounter in the real world, and students are asked to research about its uses, physical and chemical properties, structure, synthesis reaction, by-products, environmental issues, related current events, and more. Additionally, students build a three-dimensional model of their molecule, which they present to the class with an accompanying oral presentation.
Nuts & Bolts | May 2020 The BOSSO: A Tool for Enhanced Comprehension and Retention
In this article, the authors share about the BOSSO, a highly effective homework assignment that is used specifically with reading assignments and is designed to help students organize their learning.
Classroom Commentary | May 2020 Part 4: Teaching Earth Chemistry
This is the fourth and final article in a series about teaching earth chemistry. It is an examination of how earth materials break down physically and chemically, resulting in new chemistry and creating landscapes around us. The author provides an accompanying activity that directs students on how to examine their local earth chemistry.
Resource Feature | March 2020 Designing a Greener Le Châtelier's Principle Lab
Are you interested in teaching core chemistry content with safer materials? This article discusses the importance of green chemistry and features a safer replacement to traditional Le Châtelier’s Principle labs, which often use hazardous chemicals that pose a risk to students and the environment. The concepts of Le Châtelier’s Principle can be effectively demonstrated using household materials of starch, iodine, butterfly pea tea, vinegar, and baking soda.
Nuts & Bolts | March 2020 The Benefits of Culminating Tasks
In this article, a teacher shares her experience implementing culminating tasks in the chemistry classroom. She shares her insight for best practices, and offers suggestions for hands-on lab experiences that can be completed at the end of a unit or a semester.
Resource Feature | March 2020 Teaching Periodic Trends with a Popular Card Game
In this article, the author describes how she was inspired by the rules and spirit of the well-known card game, War, to help her students test their knowledge of the periodic trends. She shares about how she uses her version, which she calls Periodic War, in the classroom, and discusses student learning outcomes, as well as difficulties and successes that she has encountered when using it as a teaching activity in her classroom.
Editorial | March 2020 Instilling Engagement in Chemistry
AACT President-Elect Jesse Bernstein shares about his most engaging chemistry memories from both his childhood and early teaching career. He is a passionate advocate for integrating engaging, hands-on teaching methods in the chemistry classroom, and encourages all teachers of chemistry to provide their students with similar engaging learning opportunities.
Classroom Commentary | March 2020 Part 3: Teaching Earth Chemistry
This is the third article in a series about teaching earth chemistry. The focus of this piece is discussing and investigating how the partial melting of rocks related to plate tectonics occurs, and its effects on volcano behavior.
In My Element | March 2020 Exploring the Elements of my Life
Linda Cummings describes her challenges and successes as her identity evolved over the years. Follow her journey as her job description changed from musician, to high school chemistry teacher, and ultimately to university chemistry instructor.
Classroom Commentary | March 2020 The Importance of Teaching Literacy Strategies in High School Chemistry
In this article, the author discusses rationale for teaching chemistry literacy and offers strategies to be successful in the classroom. Since teaching students how to read and write is the responsibility of all teachers, the author aims to help chemistry teachers focus on these important skills in their content area.
Classroom Commentary | November 2019 AP or IB: What’s the Difference?
The author is frequently asked questions about IB and AP chemistry, including, What's the difference? Isn't one chemistry course pretty much like any other? Based on his experiences, he provides a brief overview of the AP and IB Chemistry programs, and outlines some similarities and differences between the curriculums, laboratory experiences, and end-of-course exams.
In My Element | November 2019 Life Lessons: Becoming a Teacher
This article tells the unique story of a second-career teacher and her path to the high school chemistry classroom. Her first year as a teacher tested the perseverance of both her and her colleagues, as their school was lost in a Northern California wildfire. In the article, she shares thoughts about the lessons she’s learned about her role as an educator and the admiration she has gained for her amazing students, colleagues, and community.
Nuts & Bolts | November 2019 Drawing Exit Tickets: A New Way to Formatively Assess
The author uses a modified version of traditional exit tickets as a useful strategy to formatively assess student understanding at the end of the lesson. Her students are asked to summarize what they have learned by creating drawings. She shares that recent research has shown that drawing can be more effective than writing as a tool for remembering concepts. Read this article to see how you can use this strategy in your own classroom!
Editorial | November 2019 Building Connections
In the November editorial, AACT Governing Board DivCHED Representative Michael Mury highlights the importance of building connections as a teacher. He shares information about opportunities for educators to grow their professional network, locally and nationally, and also offers suggestions for how to get involved.
Resource Feature | November 2019 Navigating the Periodic Table Guided by Nested Russian Dolls
The authors describe a lesson they developed collaboratively to teach elementary students about the structure and shape of periodic table using a set of Russian “nesting dolls.” Building on that understanding, they teach students how to navigate the periodic table, identify specific elements by atomic number, analyze several element samples, and determine the identity of a mystery material.
Nuts & Bolts | November 2019 Developing the Skill of Modeling to Reinforce Complex Topics in Chemistry
In this article, the author explains the progression of skill development in particulate modeling in the chemistry classroom to help students better understand complex chemistry.
Resource Feature | November 2019 Part 2: Teaching Earth Chemistry
The second in a series of articles, the author focuses on using a phenomenon-based approach to investigate how density effects the chemical compositions of the two types of crust on the surface of the earth. He also demonstrates how the entire earth is arranged by density from the core to the top of the atmosphere — expanding the potential applications of density concepts beyond the lab.
Classroom Commentary | September 2019 It’s Elementary: We all Teach Chemistry!
In this article, the author affirms that elementary science teachers are chemistry teachers. She offers examples for connecting chemistry to space science, specifically using NASA resources, as well as examples for identifying other chemistry content connections in a science curriculum.