Video Clips for the Chemistry Classroom

I like showing video clips in class because I think it's a good way to grab my students' attention and spark curiosity.  When I can, I like finding clips from old TV shows and movies (not necessarily old to me, but old to our students, lol). 

I usually just save videos I like to a YouTube playlist or bookmark them so I can find them later.  What I have been doing lately is to include them in PowerPoint presentations so that I don't forget to show them.  The problem is that I usually don't want to show the whole clip.  Sometimes I will include a note to myself in the presenter notes of where to start and stop.  There are lots of sites out there where you can clip videos to specific times if that works better for you.

Here are some that I use in my Chemistry class to help you get started because we all know a search of videos about chemistry is going to give you so many results (many that aren't good for the classroom).  Share with us some chemistry videos you've used. 

Acid/Base Neutralization	Strength of Acids
Electrochemistry	Phase Change

Some images in this post from Video Clip Vectors by Vecteezy

Chemical Safety in the Science Classroom

One of the things that we as teachers need to do is to create a safe environment for our students.  This can mean a lot of different things, but for science teachers, one of those is chemical safety.  One resource that I like is this one from the American Chemical Society. It includes information on handling chemicals, teaching safety in the classroom and a safety checklist. 

It's also important to note that this is not just for the Chemistry classroom. By developing good chemical safety habits early, students are better prepared when they move on to more advanced classes.  

If you are looking for more, Flinn has a free lab safety course you can take. 

image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/92416586@N05/12188601914

Interactive Periodic Table with Pictures

Elements.wlonk.com is the home to The Periodic Table of Elements, in Pictures and Words.  It is an interactive site where students can click on elements to see how it used and in what commons prodcuts it is found. For example, if you click on calcium an image of seashell appears along with a list of other places it is found.

In addition to the interactive page, you can also print out a copies or purchase a high quality poster.  

This is something that I would use in both my middle and high school classrooms.  Students often think they know what things are made of, but it would be eye opening for them to see what elements are really in the items they use every day.  Connections like these provide a better understanding and enhance learning. 

Leaky Cup Phenomenon - Discrepant Event in Chemistry

 This video will really get your kids thinking (bonus points in you do this live for your classes).  I always love to see what the explanations are that the students come up with.  

This video is a fun way to introduce your students to the concept of intermolecular forces.  Afterward, you can explain how this was done.  I am not going to give it away here, but you can find the solution here. 

If you are looking for a tie in to the NGSS it fits with Science Practice: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions, HS-ESS2-5 Water, and HS-PS1 Matter and Its Interactions

PhET meets PowerPoint

I've talked about PhET before, so you know that I love it! In case you don't know what it is, it's a website that has simulations that you can use in your physics, chemistry, biology, earth science, and mathematics classroom. Many of them are available as part of PhET's free PowerPoint Add-in.

While at first I found this add-in I didn't think much of it. I didn't see the value in it when you can just go to the website. While this is true, the great thing about this add in is that you can use the simulations just like you were on the website but you don't need to leave your PowerPoint presentation.

56 of the PhET simulations are available to insert into PowerPoint presentations through the use of the add-in . With the Add-in installed you can browse the available simulations and insert them into your slides. The simulations work in your slide just as they do on the PhET website.  A note about the add-in; if you are in a Microsoft school your Microsoft admin may have turned off the ability to use add-in or may have to approve them.  So if you are having trouble finding the add in, please reach out to your tech admin. 

Short videos on the science topics you teach

I have always liked showing videos as part of my science classes, but I don't want to spend a whole period showing a video.  Plus, we know that the kids won't pay attention to a video that long anyway.  Check123 is a great site for finding short videos.  All areas are represented, but of course we all care about the science section. ;-)

The videos are all less than 4 minutes long.  You can do a search for what you are looking for and even narrow down the results based on the length of the video you are looking for.  For the most part these videos are hosted on YouTube, so if this is blocked in your school it won't work.  (On a side note, if it's blocked in your school you should really talk to the powers that be because it's a valuable teaching tool!)

What's one of your go to site for find videos for your classroom?

Chemical & Physical Reaction GIFs to make your lessons pop

Buzzfeed is usually know for its silly quizzes to find out which candy bar you are most like or what state you should really live in.  I came across this post that shows they can actually do something useful. :-)  It's a collection of 23 chemical and physical reaction GIFs that I can't wait to add into my lessons.

Of of my favorites is below; it's a match burning.



https://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicamisener/extremely-freaky-chemical-physical-reaction-gifs

Making Golden Rain - investigating solubilities

One of the reasons that I love teaching Chemistry is that you get to do so many awesome experiments.  Not only are they cool, but they provide a great hook for students as a means of introduction to a new topic.  The reaction between potassium iodide and lead nitrate is a great demonstration to introduce students to the idea of solubility.  They each start off as a colorless solution when dissolved in water, but when you mix them together you end  change.  This reaction also demonstrates a double replacement reaction.  The pricipitate of lead (III) iodide is insoluable in water, but when heated it become slightly soluable while allows that lead (III) iodide to dissociate and the solution turns colorless again.  Its a great reaction.

Below is a great image from Compound Chem that gives a vidual to the quick explaination I gave above.  This is a great site for any chemistry teacher to check out even if this demo doesn't fit it what you are doing.

Creating lab setup diagrams with Chemix

I recently came across the website Chemix and found that it's a great way to create Lab Diagrams.  They recently came out with Chemix 3.0 which no longer needs flash.  Right now it's in beta, but it's an open beta that all can use.   I always do my best to explain in detail how certain lab setups should look.  I'm sure you know as much as I do that students don't always read the directions.  I really like that I can add in visuals to go along with my directions.  The chemistry lab can be a dangerous place and I don't want students making mistakes.

I used Chemix to create a quick diagram to show some steps in an experiment.  Of course it would make more sense with the directions to next to it, but hopefully you get the idea.

Here is a list of some of the equipment that you can find in Chemix.  According to their FAQ they will be adding more in the future.

Equipment: Test Tube, Beaker, Displacement beaker, concial flask, boiling flask, volumetric flask, round bottom flash, petri dish, watch glass, glass jar, thermometer, graduated cylinder, pipette, burette, balance, Bunsen burner, hot plate, magnetic stirrer, stiring rod, wire gauze, filter funnel, evaporating dish, crucible, dropper and timer.

Free Online Textbooks

“I can’t find my textbook!” “I don’t remember getting a textbook.” Does this sound familiar to you? That is what I kept hearing at the end of every year. Then I would have to go through a big hassle of collecting money from student to repurchase the outdated textbooks that I had. I hated having to worry about students losing textbooks or that I was always replacing textbooks that I didn’t even want that included too much information or not enough information. Enter FlexBooks. FlexBooks are online textbooks from a company called CK12. I instantly liked them for many reasons, but the two big ones were that I could customize the book and that it could be posted on my website and downloaded by the students. This video does a great job of explaining how they work. While not every subject has a FlexBook they have a large list of books that include math and science books for elementary, middle and high school along with some other areas such as Writing, Astronomy, History and Engineering.

So, this sounds good you say, but how can I really use it in my classroom? I picked out a textbook that I wanted to use and then went through it to delete the things that don’t apply to my curriculum. I also added in some information that wasn’t there that I wanted to make sure my students had in their book. You can also include links to worksheets (CK12 has a workbook that goes along with most of their textbooks). Once it’s created you can save it as a PDF and post it on a web page or e-mail it to students. Even better, students can put the PDF on their computers, phones, Kindles, IPads, Nooks or other eReader. If you don’t want to customize your book you can find select FlexBooks already in Kindle or Nook/IPad/Android format.

Am I convincing you yet? Maybe you want to make sure you have a teacher’s edition to refer to or a book or worksheets or labs. Well, you got it! The workbooks that are available can also be customized so can you make them fit your classroom. I usually post them on my website and the students can have access to them all the time (no more “I lost it.”)

Looking for more? CK12 has a more interactive way of presenting information that allows you pull short concepts along with chapters into an online interactive “book” Many of the concepts include video clips and interactive quizzes.

Do you use textbooks in your classroom? 

crossposted on my Technology Blog - The Tech Savvy Science Teacher

Collection of Science Teaching Resources

A while back I came across this website with a collection of science teaching resources.  It's a little old and I don't think it's being updated, but it's still a great resource.  Take a look at it and let me know what you found to be helpful or what you were hoping to find.

http://scido.wikispaces.com/Share+Folders

Chemistry and Biology online review questions and practice tests

For those of you who teach in New York, and even those who don't, you may have used the website RegentsPrep.org at some point. Unfortunately that site is down, but I may have an alternative for you. Syvum created a sort of alternative. This site goes back to past 15 years of so Regents exams and has created an interactive testing environment. Students can take any past test and the site will correct the answers for them. Students can even create a free account that will track their progress as well as give them the ability to mark specific question to back to for review. In addition, there are specific pages for Chemistry and Biology where students can focus in on a set of questions from a topic of their choice.

What do you like to share with students to have them practice on their own? 

Periodic Table Apps for the Chemistry Classroom

NOVA Elements 
I am going to start with my favorite app. Like many of the apps that I will mention here, you can get a lot of detailed information about the elements. This app will also include pictures and some background information about where the element in found and what it is used for. There are also some interactive activities where you can view and rotate molecules such as red dye and also construct your own atoms and elements. My favorite part about the app is the the NOVA program, Hunting the Elements, that the app links to. It’s a great video that goes through all of the elements on the periodic table and it’s one, in my experience, the kids are actually interested in.

iTunes  Windows store  web edition of NOVA Elements

K12 Periodic Table of the Elements

This app allows you to explore the elements through a variety of lenses. You are able to view the elements color coded by their categorizes or state of mater. From there can you can information about each element including: atomic number, electronegativity, ionization energy, radius, ionic radii, melting point, boiling point, lewis dot diagram, outermost orbital and average atomic mass. In addition to viewing the info about each elements, you can view the whole table through one of the prior listed lenses.

iTunes Store   Google Play   Amazon Appstore


iElements - Periodic Table of The Chemical Elements

This basic app gives you an overview of the periodic table with element symbols and atomic numbers. If you click on each of the elements a screen will come up where you can view a picture and get information such as category, group, period, block, average atomic mass and electron configuration. In general, it is a very basic app. 

iTunes Store


Mild EleMints: Free Periodic Table
This app allows you to customize your view of the periodic table and color code elements based on the properties you are interested in. As you zoom in on a specific element you get more detail on that element. The app has a section called Inspector that allows you to get a lot of different data including 118 Elements, with up-to-date names & symbols, Isotopes up to Platinum, classification, Period, Group, Block, Atomic Weight, Electronegativity, Empirical Atomic , radius; Calculated Atomic Radius, Covalent Radius, Van der Waals Radius, Triple Covalent , radius, Metallic Radius, Crystal Structure, Common Ions, Oxidation States, Shell Structure, Electron Configuration, Dynamic Physical State, Melting Point, Boiling Point, Density, Specific Heat, Ionization Energies and Binding Energies. There are many more things that that this app can do. You will find the ability to graph periodic trends, calculate molar mass, solve equations and more. 

iTunes Store


The Elements by Theodore Gray (paid app)

I would describe this app as an upgraded version of the iElements app mentioned above. It starts off with a periodic table with each element represented with a picture. Once you click on each element you get a section of information about the element, a larger picture and some background information about how the element was discovered and what it is used for. Many of the elements show addition pictures that you can rotate around. 

iTunes Store

Free Online Lab Safety Course

If you are in a school like I was in you, you know that you are not being provided with the lab safety training that is required.  I did some research to find something and I came across the Flinn Online Laboratory Safety Course.  There are two courses: one for middle school and one for high school.  I took both of them (even though there is a lot of overlap) and learned so much!

You might be thinking, "I'm not a Chemistry teacher so this doesn't really apply to me!"  I have found that non-chemistry teachers almost need this more because they have less experience with chemicals and don't always deal with them safely when they do use them.

I'm sure there are no school schools who have perfect lab safety procedures and everyone can learn something from this course.  I also think it's a good refresher for teachers.  I don't recall being taught lab safety techniques when I was in college (either in my science class or my science methods classes).  Hopefully things have changed, but in case they haven't this is a must watch for all science teacher.

Comment below with what training you have had on lab safety.  I'm interested to hear what happen in other schools. 

Identifying Chemistry Lab Equipment Activity

It's a snow day for me, so I'm uploading some new products.  My products are available on Teachers Pay Teachers and TES.

For this activity, you will set up a selection of lab equipment around your classroom and then students will walk around the room identifying what it is and what it does as well as drawing a quick sketch of what it looks like.  This is great to do at the beginning of the year to introduce students to lab equipment or at the end of the year as a review to ensure that they know what all of the tools are that they used during this past year. 

How do you expose students to the lab equipment they will be using in the classroom? 

Build molecules in 2D and view them in 3D

MolView is a website (and it works on iPads too!!) that allows you to build molecules and see what they would look like in a variety of views.  Even better, it has a giant list of compounds, molecules and atoms that you can choose from.

There is a slight learning curve when building your own molecules, but once you figure it out it's pretty easy.  All you need to do is to drop some atoms on the screen and then choose the bond type and connect the two atoms.  You can get fancier and start with some fragments (as the site calls them).  These are you basic carbon rings and things like that.

If you need to to have all of the directions spelled out for you, you can view the user manual here.   You might be more a visual learner and, if so, you can view their YouTube channel for some quick videos.   Here is an overview video of what the site has to offer.

Density of Pennies

This past week my chemistry students completed the Density of Pennies lab.  The one that I used in very similar to this one found here.  We have been working on our first unit which was measurement.  This lab was to help students with the calculations and measurements involved in density.  In addition, I added in a significant figures component as my students struggle with this every year.  If you are looking for a good lab to start the year off with I think that this is a good one.  The hardest part if finding enough pennies (especially the ones pre 1982).

What are some your favorites Chemistry labs? 

Augmented Reality in the Science Classroom

This weekend I made a presentation about Augmented Reality in the science classroom.  Everyone seemed to really be excited about using these apps in their classroom.  I've posted my presentation below that you can benefit from it as well!  Most of these apps are available for both Android and Apple.

For those of you who aren't familiar with augmented reality, it's a way to superimpose a computer generated image onto a real world experience.  I know this doesn't explain it very well, so I suggest you download one of the apps and try it out.  Here is a quick video demonstrating one of my favorite apps Anatomy 4D.





This post also appears on my other blog The Tech Savvy Science Teacher.

Density Labs

Density is a topic that always shows up on our state test and one that students seem to always have trouble with.  These labs were developed to help students understand density as well as practice their skills determining mass and volume.  Students will have the chance to use a balance to determine mass as well as determine volume with a ruler, graduated cylinder and an overflow can.  As with everything I have created I wanted to share it with you! (it's free for the next 24 hours).

I hope you find this helpful.  If you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to e-mail me.

This product is listed for sale at Teachers Pay Teachers, Teachers Notebook and Syllabuy.

How to Create a More Effective Lab Safety Program - Webinar

The Laboratory Safety Institute (LSI) was founded to provide safety training for secondary school science teachers. 

LSI is hosting a webinar entitled "How to Create a More Effective Lab Safety Program."  It will be held on Febrarary 10th from 7-8pm EST.  To register go to: 

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3731515229433160961