The first time hearing about equilibrium can be confusing for students.  That’s why there are so many ways to introduce it.  Many are...

You should assess more.  You should grade less.  Those two statements seem mutually exclusive, but they aren’t.  The longer that I teach,...

Wish me luck.  I start dimensional analysis today.  For some (like many of us), it just makes sense.  And for others (like many, many of...

Don’t you hate it when you see a cool demo, but have no place for it?  That is the way I felt about the exploding gummy bear demo.  It’s...

This could be the most important question for students to be asking in chemistry; “How?”  At almost every level of chem, one of the...

It’s almost time.  AP scores come out very soon.  For some of us, it feels like Christmas slowly approaching.  For others of us, it feels...

If you have taught as long as I have, you have lived through at least two really annoying disposable water bottle fads.  Bottle...

I was late to the party.  Like really late.  I just did the blue glitter intermolecular force demo for the first time.  I know, it’s the...

It's crunch time for AP chemistry. Many of us are teaching unit 9 right now. Here is a visual reminder for them which electrode is the...

I have to admit something.  I don’t like using puzzle pieces for molecular compounds.  There I said it.  It’s cute for methane and...

I can remember it like it was yesterday.  I was in fourth grade competing in a Quiz Bowl with my other science nerd friends.  The...

While the applications of limiting reagent calculations might feel obvious to you and I, they aren’t to the students.  Often, the...

There are a million different versions of the stoichiometry Alka Seltzer lab out there.  And maybe I’m just a contrarian, but I have...

There is an answer in chemistry to almost every “why” question.  To become more stable. Why does nitrogen make a diatomic element?  To...

The rate determining step in kinetics can be made visual.  I show this same grainy video every year to help students just starting...

This is the year for trying things in a new order.  Some of them have worked to remove some common errors.  I always used to teach...

I’m doing an experiment.  With my students.  I introduced the concept of limiting reagent before they even know how to balance...

I feel like I’m at an addiction meeting. My name is Brennan Koch, and I don’t use the swap and drop method to write formulas for ionic...

London Dispersion Forces (LDF) can be a little tricky to understand, especially for first year chemistry students.  I started using this...

Predicting the outcomes of chemical reactions is not only key to chemistry, but also a skill that some kids view as impossible.  How are...