Chemistry Solutions
November 2021
Featured Article
Tech Tips
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.
Resource Features
Lessons by teachers with their inspiration for the activity or tips for how to implement the lesson.
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.
Classroom Commentary
Reflections and perspectives by teachers about topics that affect chemistry education.
Integrating History into Chemistry Classrooms at the Science History Institute
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.
Nuts & Bolts
Functional tips you can implement in your classroom.
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.
Teacher 2 Teacher
@AACTconnect asked:
Chemistry teachers! What’s your favorite tech tool that you originally used for remote-instruction but you’re now using in-person? #chemchat
— AACT (@AACTconnect)
You Answered:
@Classkick 100% game changer! I love being able to see my students work live all the time.
@pivot_is Pivot interactives! Real time lab data and using equipment that my small school can't afford. Most cost effective tool I have come across in my 24 years.
I've really loved Peardeck - wish that I had subscriptions to things like classkick or pivot.
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Editorial
In this editorial, AACT Governing Board SOCED Representative Pamela Leggett-Robinson shares about her passion for broadening participation in chemistry so that all people, voices, and perspectives are given equal opportunity to contribute.
Animation
This animation explores the fundamentals of the pH scale and how it is used to distinguish between acids and bases. Students will see everyday examples of acids and bases and where they fall on the pH scale. The logarithmic nature of the pH scale is explained, and universal indicator is introduced as a way of identifying the pH of a substance. There is also a brief overview of the chemistry of acids and bases. This animation was featured in the November 2021 issue of Chemistry Solutions. **This video has no audio**
Chemistry Fun
In this activity, students will be challenged to solve a collection of anagrams—but with a twist! Given 27 ordinary words, students must remove one letter and then rearrange the remaining letters to form a chemical term. Additionally, the anagrams are grouped into 3 families, with all of the chemical terms in each family sharing a common property or theme.