Activities

Invitation to engage

Dear Fellow Educators, I want to start by thanking you for your commitment to opening young minds to the wonders of science. Your mentorship may well be responsible for the big inventions of the next generation. To inspire your students even more, I’d like to help you introduce them to some of the exciting new science currently being constructed at the Chemistry Department, University of Toronto. Author: Cecelia Kutas, University of Toronto (St. George Campus), Toronto, Ontario

Chemis-tree carols

I always look forward to December when I can start displaying a Chemis-tree and other decorations in and outside the lab. I also enjoy sharing a different "Chemis-tree" carol each day. Author: Mrs. Vivian Templeton, Toronto District Christian High School, Woodbridge, Ontario

DIY holiday bath bombs

Our Science Department enjoys planning themed activities that correspond to different holidays. Last year we decided to make bath bombs with our classes on the last day of school before the winter holiday. This is an activity that is easy to set up, can be carried out in one class period, and has minimal clean up. Author: Angela Swartz, Waterloo-Oxford District Secondary School, Baden, Ontario

Canadian crystal growing competition

The Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC) National Crystal Growing Competition is a fun, hands-on experience as well as an exciting opportunity. Author: Gale Thirwall, Chemical Institute of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario

3D printed Boggle game with binary compounds

In this article I explain a Chemistry Boggle game I have created for naming binary compounds as well asshare the printing 3D files for those who wish to print their own. Author: Roby Yeung, Nelson McIntyre College, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Teacher-created wikispace of games and activities

As educators over the past several years, we are aware that students are often challenged by certain concepts in the high school chemistry program. Authors: Peggy Au, Ernest Manning High School, Calgary, Alberta and Rachel Toews, Bowness High School, Calgary, Alberta

Hidden chemical puzzle

Write the answers to the questions in the grid. One vertical column will be the chemical name of an over-the-counter medication. Author: Avi Ornstein, Classical Magnet School, Hartford, Connecticut

A chemical garden

I found this activity in an old report from CHEM ED 95 and I was struck by how old this experiment was. Author: Jean Hein, Chem 13 News Editor, University of Waterloo, Ontario

Cover photo: The chemistry of marbling Easter eggs

Easter was approaching and we were finishing up a unit on bonding. Several of my students had seen a Pinterest post about dying eggs with shaving cream and pleaded, “Please do it”. Author: Jessica Zwaschka, Spearfish High School, Spearfish, South Dakota

Not only for Easter egg hunts….

Lauren Langman, Montour High School, Robinson, Pennsylvania uses plastic eggs and a hot glue gun to create models of sp, sp2, sp3, sp3d, and sp3d2 hybrid orbitals.

Solids, the underrepresented state of matter

Materials science is the study of our material world. It is using knowledge of the structure, bonding and properties of a substance to optimize its performance in a specific function. Author: Sarah Regli, St. John’s Kilmarnock School, Breslau, Ontario

Cover photo: Fluorescing chlorophyll for St. Patrick’s Day ☘

Recently my students had the opportunity to see how plant pigment can convert light energy into chemical energy using the Flinn activity entitled Fantastic Fluorescing Chlorophyll. Students extract chlorophyll from spinach using a solvent and a centrifuge Author: Doug Ragan, Hudsonville High School, Hudsonville, Michigan

A green chemistry quiz for St. Patrick’s Day

Which of the following are green? Author: Jean Hein, Chem 13 News Editor, University of Waterloo, Ontario

Toothpaste tweet

John Yohe from Pioneer Career and Technology Center (PCTC) in Shelby, Ohio shared with us on Twitter some fun photos of his student experience with The toothpaste challenge published in the September 2018 issue. Author: Jean Hein, Chem 13 News Editor, University of Waterloo, Ontario

Teachers' tips: how to fill a Pringles® can with hydrogen

The hydrogen-air explosion in a Pringles can is by now "an old favourite". For those of us who don't have access to a hydrogen cylinder, the most convenient way to produce the gas is by the reaction between zinc and concentrated hydrochloric acid. Author: Yehoshua Sivan, Safed, Israel

Understanding heat flow from a coffee cup

Heat flow and temperature control are important topics in chemistry and chemical engineering. In a recent paper in Chem 13 News one of us (CM) analyzed the cooling curve of hot water in an insulated cup as an example of a first-order process. Author: Charles Marzzacco (retired), Rhode Island College, Providence, Rhode Island and Charles Pepin, Rhode Island College, Eau Gallie High School, Melbourne, Florida

Significant figures clusters

One challenge as an educator is to not wear yourself out with mounds of paperwork while at the same time evaluating the understanding of all your students. One way we have found to formatively assess our students without creating extra paperwork is through a kinesthetic activity. Author: Catherine Zavacki and Anjana Iyer, Hillsborough High School, Hillsborough, New Jersey

Acid base speed dating

The unit of acids and bases is difficult for most students in Advanced Placement Chemistry. The amount of various calculations can be overwhelming. I decided it was time to make the pH calculations more exciting — acid base speed dating! Submitted by Kristen Drury, William Floyd High School, Mastic Beach, New York

A study of the rate of a candle burning

In this investigation, students will study the rate of burning of a candle as a function of the mass of the candle and as a function of the concentration, or partial pressure of O2(g).

Growing a chemistree and a competition -cover article

When I first encountered a chemistree as a new teacher, I thought it was brilliant and naively, a new idea. I soon learned that this idea had been around forever — like so many other ideas. Last year Twitter helped me discover more chemistrees through an online competition

Communicative and therapeutic benefits of stamping

Yvonne Clifford describes how to use stamps to save time and have some fun grading!

A simple electronegativity demonstration device

Many chemistry students experience difficulty in grasping the abstract concept of electronegativity and its significance in discussions involving polar covalent and nonpolar covalent bonding.

Happy Earl on a torte

Take-home chemistry project: Chocolate Torte lab

Allan Van Brunschot shows off some of his students' creations from his take-home chemistry project, a chocolate torte lab (December 2011/January 2012 issue).

Canadian Chemistry Contest: 2019 exam and 2018 winners

Do you have one or more students who excel in your chemistry class and would enjoy a challenge? Have these students participate in The Canadian Chemistry Contest (CCC). Save Monday, April 15, for the 2019 edition of CCC. Watch for more information in future issues of Chem 13 News. This article provides some contest guidelines and announces the 2018 winners.

Introducing paper chromatography

Doug De La Matter used the following story to explain the ideas of chromatography to his grade 9 science classes. They seem to understand the concepts so well that it becomes a useful reference when we talk about solubility and intermolecular forces again in senior chemistry classes. I present it as a fable and embellish it with lots of spurious details.

Reflectance spectroscopy of sugar cookie baking

Michael J. Welsh investigates the perfectly baked cookie by measuring the reflectance spectra as cookies bake.

Aladdin’s lamp

A reprint from 1993 -- Gary Marcoux started this class with “Does anybody know what I have in this flask?” The students shuffle their feet and glance at each other, trying to see if anybody’s taking notes. “You know, I could have anything in here, anything at all”, I continue while holding up the flask. “This could be Aladdin’s Lamp.

Famous scientists puzzle

Name and then match the statements below with the scientist’s photo

The egg experiment

I do the "egg experiment" in the third week of school; it follows activities involving the operation of the balance, the precision of volumetric equipment, methods for the determination of volume and the uncertainty of measurement. The experiment is to collect enough data to verify or refute the statement that "the density of a whole chicken egg is equal to the arithmetic mean of its parts — the yolk, the white, and the shell".

Using chemistry to clean a teapot

Tea: How to brew it, how to clean a teapot, and much more — the subject of an article in our recipe file. The ideas presented in the article (box below) relate to general chemistry, general physics, and plant biochemistry and could be useful in teaching general chemistry.

2019 International Year of the Periodic Table update

In January 2019 we start to celebrate the International Year of the Periodic Table of Elements. Hopefully those who are designing elements for the Timeline of Elements project have already started!

Mendeleev Mosaic

wanted artwork of Mendeleev

Over the holiday break, make sure to encourage your students to delve into some artwork and design an image of Mendeleev. We are asking you to get your students, as well as any chemistry enthusiasts, to create an image of Mendeleev — dimensions as the hexagon tile.

Colour-by-numbers chemis-tree

Use the following colours for each numbered flask

Keeping an eye on puddle chemistry - front cover

The beautiful eye image on the front cover is a microscale experiment, which is a combined effort of Andres Tretiakov, Kensington Park School and Bob Worley at CLEAPSS in the United Kingdom. This “puddle chemistry”, an affectionate term for microscale reactions in drops, takes place on a liquid crystal temperature sensor.

Keeping an eye on puddle chemistry - article

The beautiful eye image on the front cover is a microscale experiment, which is a combined effort of Andres Tretiakov, Kensington Park School and Bob Worley at CLEAPSS in the United Kingdom. This “puddle chemistry”, an affectionate term for microscale reactions in drops, takes place on a liquid crystal temperature sensor. The sensor is a wonderful visual aid for microscale reactions to show whether they are endothermic or exothermic.

Chemical anagrams

Each of these terms can be rearranged to create a common name for an actual chemical with the given chemical formula.

Invert without a mess

To invert a test tube (or bottle, etc.) filled with water into a beaker of water, place a piece of filter paper on top of the brim-full tube, wait until the water has soaked into the paper enough to hold it on, then invert the tube and insert it into the beaker at an angle slightly off-vertical. Once the tube mouth is under water, the paper will float off.

The US penny revealed

United States pennies have been minted in the past few years with the less expensive metal zinc as a center filler and the more expensive copper metal as an overall cover.

Timeline of elements update

We had over 200 applications for 118 elements for our 2019 International Year of Periodic Table project. There will be representation from 26 countries, 38 US states and all Canadian provinces and territories. There still is a way for all your students to participate in the timeline — Mendeleev Mosaic. See the following pages.

Mendeleev Mosaic

Exciting news! We have expanded the Timeline of Elements project — so there is an opportunity to be a part of this international collaboration to celebrate 2019 International Year of the Periodic Table.

Polymer fun

The cover slime-stretching photo captures the result of students making their own products in our organic chemistry unit.

Canadian Crystal Growing Competition

The Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC) National Crystal Growing Competition is a fun, hands-on experience as well as an exciting opportunity. Schools are provided with materials and instructions on how to grow crystals and the objective is to grow the biggest and highest quality single crystal.

Once in a Blue Moon

The saying, “Once in a Blue Moon” refers to two full moons occurring within the same month, a rarity. This recently occurred this past January 2018. The actual moon appearing blue in color occurs from time to time as well.

What are you doing for Mole Day?

In order to inject as much pressure-release fun into the course for my students as I am able, I incorporate into my courses two big mole events. This allows me to celebrate the wonderful concept of the mole with both my grade 11s and grade 12s.

Intermolecular forces and phases of matter

Throughout the past few years we have incorporated a variety of kinesthetic activities into our classroom instruction that allows the students to be up and out of their seats to learn and review content as well as create class cohesion.

Celebrating decade of the 70s - Lab safety puzzle

This puzzle is a reprint from Chem 13 News from the 1970s. It was one of many safety articles by Nick Ozaruk, University of Waterloo, Waterloo Ontario. Shown is a sketch of a fictitious laboratory. It isn’t ours. However, there are conditions or actions that could result in accidents, some very serious. List the unsafe acts and/or conditions that you can spot in the drawing.

Mole Day resources

This photo was sent in by Kerry Friend, Paloma Creek High School, Atascadero, California.

Molympics 2018

Are you stuck for lesson plans for this year’s Mole Day? Not planning that far ahead yet? That’s okay, we have a solution. How about having your chemistry students join the fun with other chemistry students for this year’s Molympics!

New, freely available, interactive high school chemistry lessons

The Department of Chemistry at the University of Waterloo proudly announces the launch of our new Open-Science website: open.science.uwaterloo.ca. It provides freely available, interactive online lessons on general topics in high school chemistry curricula.

The toothpaste challenge

In the first week of classes I use the toothpaste challenge for my grade 12 university level classes. It is primarily a review for proper lab book protocols and reminds students to record data properly with both correct uncertainty and correct significant figures.