Molecular Workbench

One of my favorite Chemistry resources is Molecular Workbench.  This site, run by the Concord Consortium, offers online simulations for chemical concepts that can be very difficult for students to grasp with only paper and pencil.  My students are currently working on the Strong Chemical Bonds 2-day activity, although I've used their Intermolecular Forces module as well, with great success.  Both of these are a part of the SAM "Science of Atoms and Molecules" project.  Their website describes SAM as...

The Science of Atoms and Molecules project offers 24 research-based, field-tested activities for physics, chemistry, and biology. We provide these all freely to teachers and students online. Through the SAM activities' interactive models and simulations, we involve students in active learning. Teachers can register online to receive Teacher Guides for each activity and to gain access reporting functions to track student progress.

One feature I haven't investigated yet, is the ability to modify and make the simulations personalized.  It's on my to-do list for sure, as I'm sure the features are excellent, just like the rest of the site.

Even without personalization, I've found their simulations to be very useful.

http://mw2.concord.org/public/part2/bondtype/customDipoleMini.html

Today my students are using electronegativity values to determine if bonds between atoms are covalent, polar covalent, or ionic.  Most students have the idea that only two types of bonds exist when they enter my classroom, and this allows them to see the continuum of bond types, as well as discussing why these types of bonding occur.  With only a verbal description, very few of my students can grasp this concept, but this allows them to manipulate the bonds themselves, and provides a much deeper understanding.

If you haven't checked out what Molecular Workbench has to offer - you should!

Video Substitute Teacher

I'm going to be out for a curriculum meeting one day next week, and there's so little time between now and Winter Break, I don't want to miss a day of instruction with my students.

I've been interested in flipping the classroom for a while, and so for this day, I am using the same idea of videotaping my explanation, only I'm the one that won't be in class, the students will still be working.

To set up my video, I first looked at my standards....

 An atom’s electron configuration, particularly the valence elections, determines how an atom interacts with other atoms. 

The polarity of a bond depends on the electronegativity difference and the distance between the atoms (bond length). 

Given the formula, a compound can be named using conventional systems that include Greek prefixes and  Roman numerals where appropriate.

Given the name of an ionic or covalent substance, formulas can be written.

Then I made a basic scripted list of ideas to talk about
* covalent bonds are between two non-metals
* how valence electrons and Lewis dot structures can help us determine bonding patterns
* electronegativity and polarity of covalent compounds
* covalent naming prefixes

I chose a few animations (and made one on XtraNormal as an attention getter)


I wrote practice problems to sprinkle throughout (while the sub pauses the video)

I made a student guide to go with it, with spaces for note taking and the practice problems printed on it.

Finally I recorded my video.  I used the program that comes with our SMART board, it just records your voice and the movement on your computer screen.  So, the students don't see my face, they just hear my voice and see me working the practice problems and explaining on the screen.

I ended my video with a preview of the next day's online lab.  We'll be using Molecular Workbench, and the last few minutes of the video gave me a chance to show them how to get to the website and launch the program, including what would be expected of them on each day (it's a two day lab).

One troubleshooting piece:  It did take a few tries to get the volume right when transitioning from my voice in the mic to the sound from the animation, but I think it was overall quite a success.

We'll see what my students have to say when I get back from my meeting!