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A resource that chemistry folks may enjoy... “Chemistry Now” consists of 32 learning packages that aim to break down the chemistry behind things such as cheeseburgers and chocolate, plastics and soap -- the subject of September’s first learning package. Featured on the site this week is the ‘Chemistry of Ocean Clean-Up,’ timed to coincide with the one year anniversary of when the BP oil well in the Gulf was capped. This week’s learning package also surveys the Top 10 Big Questions in Chemistry. New topics will be explored each week through the end of the year, building on the 23 original "Chemistry Now" videos. Made especially for students and teachers to explore chemistry in and beyond the classroom, the online videos are matched with lesson plans from the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and are available cost-free on WWW.NBCLEARN.COM, WWW.NSF.GOV and HTTP://NSTACOMMUNITIES.ORG/BLOG/. Weekly content includes original video stories that illustrate real-world applications of chemistry; current events and archival news stories related to chemistry; original source documents and images from the Chemical Heritage Foundation; articles from the archives and current publications of Scientific American; and content-coordinated lesson plans for middle and high school students, produced by national curriculum specialists at NSTA. In addition, the “Chemistry Now” series will profile NSF-sponsored scientists who are hard at work on the next generation of chemistry breakthroughs.

Edward, the new (to me) resource is outstanding. I was just at the Chemistry Now portal, and I was very impressed with the quality of the videos and lesson plans. I honed right in on the Chemistry of Chocolate! Thank you so much for bringing this to our attentions. I love the NSTA Learning Center Discussion Threads. I have learned so much reading all of the posts, and I have been reintroduced to so many things that I had forgotten about!
Carolyn

Thank you so much for posting this. Chemistry Now is a pretty cool resource. I just followed the link and WOW!! I checked out some the videos on water and I can really use them in my classroom. The animations that are used a simple and very easy to understand. I immediately bookmarked it so I can check it out in more detail. I can wait to check out the cheeseburger chemistry packs (I never realized how much a cheeseburger could teach about chemistry. I think this is one of the most valuable things about the forum is all the new ideas and resources that are shared. Without being on this forum, who knows what percentage of the ideas and resources I would have come across just surfing the web on my own. Luckily I signed up for a professional development class that required us to use the forums, I am so glad I did it. The ideas and resources that I've been exposed to on the forum and the NSTA site in general are just awesome.

Thank you, Edward! This is a great resource!

Thanks for the resources! Glad to have found this discussion in time since I'm moving into chemistry in a few weeks.

Thanks so much Edward for this resource! I am beginning my chemical reactions unit in the next two months and I was scouring the web for fun activities for my students that allows them to "DO" something, but also do something that would be not only content relevant, but of value to them personally! Amazing ideas!! I'm looking forward to using them. Patricia Michelle

The Chemistry Now videos are short and fun: I especially liked the video on underwater glue (sea mussel research). Our school has a Medical Magnet theme, so I am always looking for resources that clearly and loudly emphasize the role chemistry plays in medicine.

I wish I had known about some of these in previous years. They would have been great. I am going to make units with some of them and share them with the rest of my department. Thanks for sharing them with us.

great information! thank you

Chem 13 News brought to you by the University of Waterloo has reviews and links to 47 chemistry related websites http://www.chem13news.uwaterloo.ca/links/links.html

I am excited with all the resources introduced in this forum. A few of you mentioned Science360. In light of such, and since all my scholars have iPads, one of the apps we downloaded for their use is Science360. I absolutely love the videos and it allows the scholars to access content material in a way that is most meaningful to them. Thanks so much for alerting me to this resource.