The Chemmies: A Descriptive Chemistry Audio/Video Research Project

Submitted by Neal Yakelis / Pacific Lutheran University on Mon, 03/29/2010 - 01:31
Description

This project was initiated as a way to enhance the descriptive inorganic chemistry unit presented in our General Chemistry II curriculum.  As the time available in the term prohibited the amount of lecture time needed to cover this vast array of material, the idea of a research project allowed for students to investigate an inorganic chemistry topic of keen interest to them over the course of the semester.  A previous term's attempt using a research paper project was quite unpopular, so the idea of a multimedia presentation was devised as an alternative to achieve similar learning goals.  S

Periodic Table of Haiku

Submitted by Adam Johnson / Harvey Mudd College on Thu, 03/18/2010 - 16:45
Description

This is a great website that was forwarded to me by a friend.  Broaden students' scientific communication skills by condensing the descriptive chemistry of an element down to a haiku.

Video explanations and practice problems of basic chemistry and math topics

Submitted by Lori Watson / Earlham College on Wed, 02/24/2010 - 15:34
Description

This is a website which links to a wide variety of good quality YouTube mini-lectures on basic topics in chemistry, mathematics, physics and a variety of other sciences.  Each video is about 10 minutes long and many go through example problems slowly and completely.  

Interactive Lewis Structures

Submitted by Adam Bridgeman / The University of Sydney on Wed, 01/20/2010 - 21:51
Description

http://firstyear.chem.usyd.edu.au/iChem/lewis.shtml

A set of Flash-based, interactive tools for students to construct Lewis structures for electron deficient, octet rule obeying and hypervalent MLx molecules and ions (x = 2 - 6).

The user chooses the number of electrons and bond type (single, double or triple) and is steered towards the correct stucture.

For cases where resonance structures are possible, the user must construct each form to complete the puzzle.

Biological and medical examples in intro chem at MIT

Submitted by Joanne Stewart / Hope College on Fri, 01/01/2010 - 16:29
Description

I read about these new biology examples for intro chem in a recent Association for Women in Science (AWIS) Washington Wire (December 2009, Issue II).  Professor Catherine Drennan from MIT and her colleagues introduced "examples of biological and medical topics that demonstrate chemistry principles into her introductory chemistry lectures to highlight the connection between the fields of biology and medicine, that students often love, and chemistry."  Their assessment showed that the examples increased student satisfaction with the course.

Metals in Acid Base Chemistry

Submitted by Sheila Smith / University of Michigan- Dearborn on Sun, 10/18/2009 - 08:26
Description

This is a simple in class exercise to review acid- base equilibria and to lead the students to thinking about metals as both Lewis and Bronsted- Lowry acids. I use it as a discussion starter when I introduce the role of metals in biological acid/base chemistry in my upper division inorganic course, but it can be used at any level once acid-base equilibria has been covered.

Chemistry Bingo Generator

Submitted by Adam Johnson / Harvey Mudd College on Tue, 09/08/2009 - 10:59
Description

I used this Excel spreadsheet to generate bingo cards for teaching *organic* nomenclature and functional groups to first year students during a recitation section.  I gave each student a handful of pennies and a bingo card generated randomly.  The topics could be easily changed to inorganic nomenclature, solid state lattices, you name it.  Its a quick way to review a small amount of material before an exam.

Free Rice...and Periodic Table Symbols?

Submitted by Nancy Williams / Scripps College, Pitzer College, Claremont McKenna College on Mon, 08/17/2009 - 14:11
Description

A neat site that quizzes you on chemical symbols (e.g., Ag for silver), and donates rice for right answers. Hey, if students are going to learn chemical symbols, they may as well do it in a game setting, and many will find it a touch less pointless if they're doing someone else some good at the same time.

Sol-Gel Silica: Nanoarchitectures of Being and Nothingness

Submitted by Maggie Geselbracht / Reed College on Thu, 08/06/2009 - 16:59
Description

In this lab experiment, students use sol-gel chemistry to prepare silica gel monoliths from tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS).  Carrying out the hydrolysis and condensation under acid-catalyzed vs.