Student teachers at Ball State University are required to complete an in-depth unit long data driven analysis of their student teaching called Learning Assessment Model Project (LAMP). I chose to run the project during the stoichiometry unit. Stoichiometry is a unifying topic of chemistry. It synthesizes previously taught topics of writing chemical formulas, calculating molar masses, performing molar conversions, and balancing chemical reaction equations so that students may apply prior knowledge to its fullest use. Stoichiometry is rigorous and challenging for students. My aim was to make this topic both accessible and useful for my students by relating it to their everyday lives. We chose the stoichiometry unit to run our LAMP project in as most students, except possibly those who have taken integrated chemistry and physics, have no experience with stoichiometry. We wanted to see the direct impact that our teaching had upon students. The following is a summary of the project, its outcome and conclusions drawn from it.
Category Archives: InTASC 7
SMART Goal Setting Lesson Plan
We administered our first end of unit assessment in our Chemistry I course and were met with a little worse than typical bell curve results in the distribution of scores, with 16/65 (25%) of students scoring Ds and Fs. There seemed that no time quite like then that could be better for setting some attainable academic goals, especially for our underperforming students. I used Locke and Latham’s goal setting theory in hopes of increasing the overall academic performance in our Chemistry I course.
Locke and Latham have studied the goal setting theory for the majority of their careers, and have determined that in order to be successful, goals must have five main components, often referred to as SMART objectives:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-bound
Below is my 5E lesson plan incorporating their techniques.
Science Behind the Thanksgiving Day Table
Oftentimes, the last school day before a break is a day of lost instruction. My goal in forestalling this before Thanksgiving was to plan a lesson based around the science of things found on a Thanksgiving Day table. Continue reading Science Behind the Thanksgiving Day Table
Reading Fix-Ups Strategies for Better Lab Experiences
Mr. Smith talks to our students about reading techniques on a regular basis. We have only a classroom set of textbooks for Chemistry I, so we don’t request required reading of them very often. However, we do ask them to preview a chapter after an exam, or when there is time after laboratories. When we ask students to read the textbook, we give them specific techniques with which to preview the text:
1) Look at the pictures and figures first.
2) Read any boldface vocabulary words.
3) Skim for key phrases/vocabulary.
4) Read for content.
We give them a specific reading technique, because reading a science text is not as straightforward or easy, as reading for leisure is.
Continue reading Reading Fix-Ups Strategies for Better Lab Experiences
Problem-Based Learning: Unit Plan
Students complain that school isn’t relatable. Employers complain that we don’t generate problem solvers. Problem Based Learning answers the complexities of both of these issues in one fell swoop, all the while being aligned to state curriculum standards.
Alexandria received a grant of $335,000 from the state of Indiana as part of the Hardest Hit Fund Blight Elimination Program to help with the demolition of eyesore properties around town. The question remains: was this a good deal for the city? A slideshow outlining the entire project may be viewed at: https://www.emaze.com/@AFRWRLTW/razed-and-rising
Find Me a Solution, Please
The origin of this activity stemmed from myself graduating with a degree in chemistry, without ever calculating or making a 1.0 M solution. I felt that this was a disservice to myself, and vowed that my students wouldn’t have the same experience.
Celebrating 10/23: Mole Day Activities
October 23 is recognized and celebrated by chemists worldwide as a day of celebration for the unit of measure specific to our field: the mole. We voted to spend the day doing activities reinforcing the mole concept. A link to the full list of activities from that day may be found here.
Quality Control of Al Foil Inquiry Lab
When our Chemistry I classes were initially studying the unit of the mole, I wanted to find an activity using real life materials to further relate the mole concept. Initially I thought of using aluminum foil, and found a quality control lab that I liked, so I modified it to include mass measurements and mole conversions. Click here for the complete file download of this activity.
Mole Madness Activity
What’s in a mole? 6.022 EE 23 atoms/molecules for sure, but what does a mole look like? That depends on the molar mass of a given compound. The goal of generating this particular activity was to have students calculate the molar mass of three common household compounds, sugar, baking soda and sodium chloride, and then to measure out the same number of moles of each compound and visually compare the amounts of each compound to see how much space a given amount of moles occupies.
Kinesthetic Chemical Nomenclature Activity
Traditional methods of practicing chemical nomenclature offer little interactivity among students. I attempted to energize this topic by physically engaging the students with beachballs labeled with chemical compound names that were categorized according to naming type, including Type I & II ionic compounds, as well as binary covalent compounds. Names of each category were written on a particular ball, which was then tossed in the classroom from student to student. Whomever caught the ball then had to properly name the compound where their left thumb landed. The activity continued until all 10 compounds on each ball were named. Student feedback was favorable in that they commented on how “fun” the activity was.