Formulas and Nomenclature of Compounds

Submitted by Sarah Shaner / Southeast Missouri State University on Sun, 03/26/2017 - 12:41
Description

Students will be given the formula for a cation or anion on a slip of paper or index card. He or she will find another student with an ion with the opposite charge and practice writing the formula and naming the ionic compound that would result by combining the cation and anion. Students also answer a few questions about naming and formulas of binary molecular compounds with their partner.

In-class peer review

Submitted by Chantal Stieber / Cal Poly Pomona on Fri, 03/03/2017 - 17:15
Description

This activity includes questions for students to answer to help guide them through the process of peer review. It was designed to assist students in writing peer reviews for research reports written by their classmates, but could be applied to literature articles as well.

Experimenting with Danger- CSB safety Video

Submitted by Sheila Smith / University of Michigan- Dearborn on Thu, 03/02/2017 - 12:19
Description

This 2011 video by the Chemical Safety Board is a very serious and moving motivation for adopting safe practices in the chemical laboratory.  It focuses on two recent and very real safety issues in University labs (UCLA, 2008 and TTU, 2010 ), both of which have shaken the educational research community to result in positive change. 

I have shared a "SafeShare" link so that you will not have to listen to ads, and if you choose to play the link in your classroom, you will not see all the Youtube ads on the screen.  

calistry calculators

Submitted by Adam Johnson / Harvey Mudd College on Wed, 01/18/2017 - 18:17
Description

I just stumbled on this site while refreshing myself on the use of Slater's rules for calculating Zeff for electrons. There are a variety of calculators on there including some for visualizing lattice planes and diffraction, equilibrium, pH and pKa, equation balancing, Born-Landé, radioactive decay, wavelengths, electronegativities, Curie Law, solution preparation crystal field stabilization energy, and more.

I checked and it calculated Zeff correctly but I can't vouch for the accuracy of any of the other calculators. 

Strategies for Effective Science Writing

Submitted by Anne LaPointe / Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University on Tue, 01/03/2017 - 18:25
Description

This presentation is designed for senior undergraduates or beginning graduate students who need to write a research report or paper.  It was originally developed for the summer undergraduate students in the NSF Center for Sustainable Polymers.

Safety is job one

Submitted by Alice / Villanova University on Fri, 09/16/2016 - 13:12
Description

This five slides about came to be from a discussion that happened after Marta Guron and Jared Paul gave a talk at the Philly ACS in Fall 2016. This is a modified version of a presentation given to all chemistry students regarding the proper handling and disposal of chemicals. Certain details will need to be modified to fit your individual institutions. The particular focus of the slides is for students to learn to turn to SDS sheets before using chemicals and to be able to read the labels on chemicals and understand the associated safety concerns.