Chemistry II students have sat and listened to a lot of lecture here lately, as we have been covering chemical kinetics and equilibria.  They have been cooperative, using the quadratic formula and solving problems along the way.  However, once we got into weak acid/base equilibria, in particular conjugate acids and bases,  I wanted a kinesthetic activity that would get the students up an engaged.  That was the genesis of this activity.

Students were given a table of acids and bases and their conjugate pairs to complete Identifying Conjugate Acid Base Pairs  by rotating through eight stations around the room with a partner. At each station was a set of four index cards with chemical reaction species on them.  Students were to organize the cards into reactants and products and then label each species according to what it was when it participated in the given reaction: acid or its conjugate base, base or its conjugate acid.

InTASC’s 3 & 8 was used to plan for this learning environment setting as it was inherently engaging and collegial because it required both movement and teamwork to complete.  HLPs 6, group work and 13, for choosing or creating a way to relay content were both used in generating this activity.  This activity was another one of my last-minute thoughts the night before I taught, and I was pleased with how well it worked out.  I never under estimate those bursts of creativity!