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I personally find chemistry challenging because there is a lot of elevated diction that goes along with learning all the topics. How can you make all the harder concepts become more elementary and easy to understand to young kids, so that they can build a good background base of knowledge?

Hi Mary- What grade level do you teach? If it is high school, do you teach an elective or required Chemistry course? There are materials available to make chemistry easier to understand. I like Chemistry in the Community. Here is a link to one of their resource pages: http://bcs.whfreeman.com/chemcom5e/pages/bcs-main.asp?v=category&s=00010&n=99000&i=99010.01&o=

The first school I taught at used Chem Comm...I didn't like it because it didn't really teach chemsitry as far as I was concerned. I think that book is geared more toward lower level, elective students. I've struggled a lot with the difficult concepts in chemistry...my kids seem to struggle with the not difficult concepts. So getting them to understand something like Stoichiometry is fruturating. Especially when I have such a diverse level of students. Some pick it up right away, others don't get it after 4 weeks. I find repitition is key. The more you make them do it, the easier it gets...as long as they learn something from each attempt.

The first school I taught at used Chem Comm...I didn't like it because it didn't really teach chemsitry as far as I was concerned. I think that book is geared more toward lower level, elective students. I've struggled a lot with the difficult concepts in chemistry...my kids seem to struggle with the not difficult concepts. So getting them to understand something like Stoichiometry is fruturating. Especially when I have such a diverse level of students. Some pick it up right away, others don't get it after 4 weeks. I find repitition is key. The more you make them do it, the easier it gets...as long as they learn something from each attempt.

Hi Chris- I agree that Chemcomm is too basic for a core chemistry class intended to prepare students for college. In Michigan we have 3 years of required science that include Biology, Chemistry or Physics, and one additional class. Many schools offer a less rigorous version of chemistry or physics so that all students can meet the requirement. And yes, stoichiometry was difficult for many of my students to "get" right away. I had the luxury of teaching at a small Catholic high school (back when I still taught Chemistry) where the students were all very motivated to do well. If I could still teach chemistry at my current school, it would be harder.

I love this video on the double slit experiment that explains the particle / wave nature of matter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfPeprQ7oGc

To reinforce or begin Chemistry's tough subjects, I like to use DANA center manipulatives. This is from UT Austin. Next year Region iv will be publishing the Chemistry Gateway book. This is definitely what I will get. I love the gateway books. Very simple but effective.

With hard topics, I like to have the students watch videos to help them out. YouTube has some great ones. Brightstorm and Khan Academy are also great. It really helps at home when they are trying to do homework. They are great little refresher videos on hard concepts.

I also use chants with the students and make a beat on the desk. "the words on the top are the words on the bottom" for dimensional analysis "the prefix is the subscript" for naming molecular compounds etc

Stacey, can you share some of the chants you use? That sounds intriguing. Thanks, CArolyn

Chris When compared to other sciences, the models in chemistry are more abstract. This create a problem in that novices tend to think concretely. The transition from novice to expert in one of transversing the cognitive terrain from the concrete to the abstract. If we keep this in mind the single MOST important this to do in teaching novices is to make the concepts as concrete as possible. While this is easier in mechanics and biology, it is more problematic in chemistry. Everyone has experience with forces and metabolism but no one had had direct concrete experience with an atom, molecule, mole........ POGIL does a very good job of creating models that move from concrete to abstract https://pogil.org/resources/references/chemistry Here is an example of something I use to get across the idea that a mole is a relative mass unit

Attachments

Mole_Bean_Lab.docx (0.02 Mb)

I will try to upload a video of me using the dimensional analysis as we are beginning mole conversions.

I recently started making a few "foldables" here and there that help break the word down. For example, today with reaction types we folded a piece of paper hotdog style with the margin showing. On the outside we wrote reaction types. On the inside left we wrote clues that related to the words and on the inside right we wrote an example. This helped break it down for the students.

I recently started making a few "foldables" here and there that help break the word down. For example, today with reaction types we folded a piece of paper hotdog style with the margin showing. On the outside we wrote reaction types. On the inside left we wrote clues that related to the words and on the inside right we wrote an example. This helped break it down for the students.

Pam, I've tried a few POGIL activities but again I find them hit or miss. My students don't seem to do well without me telling them what to do. I don't have access to the full realm of POGIL so I just find the ones that I can online and use them. I'm sure if they were accustomed to them, they would do better. I like that Mole Bean Lab, my students have trouble recognizing that a mole is a quantity. When presented with questions like if I have 3 moles of Al and 3 mol of gold which do I have more molecules of? or If I have 30g of Al and 30g of gold which do I have more molecules of? they tend to go for the gold because it weighs more, not realizing that moles are a unit, so I need to figure out which I have more moles of. I know a main focus of "modeling" is proportional reasoning, which is something that my kids have big issues with as well. I just don't know how to fix all these problems and teach them content all in the allotted time I have!!

Hi Mary,
In your original post, you mentioned that you wanted ideas for making chemistry easier to understand for younger children. If you haven't had a chance to look at Dr. Bill Robertson's book on Chemistry, I would highly recommend it. It is called Chemistry Basics: Stop Faking It! Finally Understanding Science So You Can Teach it
Dr. Robertson's Stop Faking It series was written with elementary science teachers in mind. The information is easy to follow and he provides many hands-on activities that can be used in the classroom as well.
Carolyn