Articles

1 – 10 of 10 Articles

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  Classroom Commentary | September 2022 Small Stones, Big Mountains

  Learning science at middle and high school level should stimulate curiosity and engagement. Many new teachers, and also those who have been teaching for a while, can feel overwhelmed and consequently miss opportunities to help their students truly experience the wonderment and awe of science. This article suggests small modifications in pedagogy that can make a big difference in how students learn science in the classroom, and seeks to inspire teachers to rethink and re-evaluate their pedagogy approach.

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  Resource Feature | November 2021 Pigment pH Puzzles

  This article discusses an acid-base lab activity that can be completed in a virtual or in-person setting. The authors designed the lab so that students are first tasked with collecting and interpreting data. Then, using their scientific detective skills, the students determine the identity of various pigments in pH strips based on how they interact with several different solutions.

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  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!

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  Resource Feature | November 2020 A Green Chemistry Guided-Inquiry Lab

  In this article, the authors share insights about how they used a guided-inquiry lab about biomimetic preen oil to expose students to the topics of green chemistry and biomimicry, topics not commonly covered in high school chemistry curricula. While preen oil occurs naturally when birds secrete it to protect their feathers, it can also be created by reacting waste cooking oil in a blue cheese slurry, with the mold Penicillium roqueforti producing methyl ketones, an important antibacterial compound. The authors discuss the implementation and results of a guided-inquiry lab in which students design, test, and evaluate their own procedure using biomimicry and green chemistry principles.

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  Resource Feature | March 2019 Magic Monday: Inspiring Students to Observe and Question in Chemistry

  The 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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  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.

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  Resource Feature | March 2018 Teaching Beyond the Cookbook

  Inquiry lab experiences provide students with a wider context for understanding the material presented in the classroom while improving student engagement and giving them a more authentic science experience. If you want to include more aspects of inquiry in your laboratory experiences, but lack the time and money to test brand new labs, this article provides specific tools and ideas for adding inquiry experiences to your own labs.

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  Nuts & Bolts | November 2016 Essential Questions

  Essential questions are not only important components of quality teaching and learning, but their open-ended nature can also set the stage for launching into engaging classroom debates. The author provides resources and ideas for implementing this interactive style of learning into your chemistry classroom.
  

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  Nuts & Bolts | November 2014 Learning Electron Configuration via POGIL

  Are your students struggling with learning electron configurations? This POGIL activity can help.

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  Resource Feature | November 2014 Magic Bubble

  Read about a lesson designed by a teacher that introduces students to particle diagrams via the process of dissolving.