Good relationships

Let me tell you about Brandon. He didn’t have the greatest reputation coming out of grade 10: lacklustre engagement with an attitude to match. In Grade 11 Chemistry, it didn’t take long for me to see that his “rep” was well-earned.

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Category: Feature Pedagogy, opinion and advice Editorials

Water from gasoline

I give the following challenge as a take-home assignment. A pre-discussion can flesh out the need for a balanced, complete combustion equation and the need for the average formula for gasoline and its density. Teachers can decide on how much direction is needed for their students.

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Category: Feature Activities Classroom

“Close enough” — said no chemist ever!

Ever wonder where the common "it's close enough" mentality has come from? How students can regularly grab an incorrect piece of equipment because it’s a tiny reach closer to them than the proper choice?

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Category: Feature Activities Classroom

Quantum dots: Harnessing the nanoscopic rainbow

I co-instruct and coordinate an undergraduate materials and nanoscience (MNS) lab at the University of Waterloo. One experiment in 2nd year consistently stands out as my students’ favourite, and it involves the synthesis and characterization of “capped” cadmium selenide (CdSe) “quantum dots” (QDs).

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