To celebrate Mole Day or not to celebrate, that is the question. If you go online right now you can make yourself feel pretty bad listening to all the elaborate Mole Day plans from Instagram teachers. Undoubtedly, there are so many ideas out there. So many plans that take so much prep work, its crazy. In this article, I will basically share my inner dialogue as I wrestle with what to do for Mole Day.
1. Celebrate to the max.
Chemistry doesn’t really get that many holidays, so we have to make use of the one we do get. 6.02 on 10/23 is pretty cool. Kids connect to crazy ideas and love silly. They feel like they are in the inner circle of knowledge when they tell their friends that they are celebrating Mole Day. It’s like a secret handshake that only some of us know. I have fond memories of being in the chemistry lab at 6:02 am in college to celebrate Mole Day. We exploded an acetylene balloon and our professor made us cheesy grits (Why cheesy grits, you ask? We were asking too. But we ate it anyway.) We would wear our lab coats around campus as a badge of honor. The development of comradery and entertainment makes the classroom culture feel more welcoming.
2. Don’t waste your time.
Chemistry is hard enough as it is to finish all the content. AP chemistry is even worse. Can you really afford a day in October, that you likely aren’t teaching about moles anyway, for revelry? I tell my classes at the beginning of the year that the pace in the class will be as fast as we can for as long as we need. They wear the effort it takes to succeed as a badge of honor. The class is intrinsically interesting and the classroom culture has finally started to settle in by October. I don’t want to get off track.
Can you see how those two sides of the chemistry teacher’s brain could be at odds? I feel it every year. So let’s back up just a second and ask yourself one important question. What is best for the kids? Shouldn’t that always be the question? If our focus is always on how to grow them as students, as scientists, and as people, then we need to constantly ask that question. The answer to that question will help you decide how to play Mole Day. If the kids will be better served by injecting some energy and enthusiasm into a silly day, then celebrate Mole Day all the way! If the culture in the classroom has been slow to grow and you are hanging on by your fingernails, then don’t celebrate Mole Day. And guess what, despite what social media says, both can be right. You choose what best serves your students.
Then ask yourself a second question. What is best for me? You have to be ever aware of how much you are giving to the kids. If celebrating Mole Day gives you energy, brings out your creativity, and creates better relationships with the students, then celebrate away! However, there are some teachers that feel overwhelmed at the idea of coming up with a celebration. It taxes their already taxed minds and hearts. If putting in a bunch of energy into a day that may fall flat creates stress in your mind, then don’t celebrate. That is OK, too. It is better that you are bringing the best version of yourself all the way through the year, than celebrating one day in October.
Drum roll… I have decided to celebrate Mole Day this year. I don’t do it every year. I am moving faster through the content and have kept my foot on the gas for the entire year. The kids think that they are having one final prep day before the test, but instead we will party. It will be a surprise. And I don’t do days off in my class. So, they will be very surprised. Here is my not-ready-for-Instagram plan for Mole Day.
I am going to play with liquid nitrogen. I will weigh out a mole of nitrogen and introduce the concept. We will play guessing games about how many molecules are in that 28 gram sample. I will shrink a balloon (long animal balloons work best) and the kids will gag at the “liquid Koch breath” we can see inside. I will hammer in a nail with a frozen banana. I will smash a rubber ducky. I will smash a carnation. Then I will make them all some frozen s’mores with marshmallows and graham crackers. (Be careful with the crackers as they can hold the liquid. The chocolate stays too cold and isn’t that neat, so I don’t do it.). Then whatever is left I will mix with hot water and make a big cloud. That’s it.
No, I will not fight tooth and nail to connect it deeply to the current content. No, I won’t teach the concept of the mole well enough that they can use it. No, I won’t spend a lot of time preparing, outside of a quick trip to Walmart. No, my AP chemistry class won’t participate (There definitely aren’t enough days in the year to spend an AP day.) And yes, the kids will love having a day off celebrating the most nerdy of holidays. But they won’t be celebrating on accident. I thought it through and made the best decision for them. For this year. For right now. And you should too.
Let's be honest, the coolest way to celebrate Mole Day is by giving your class the gift of games! And not just time-filler games. Curriculum-driven chemistry games from Stoich Decks. We are having our biggest sale of the year. 23% off all games on Mole Day (10/23). the sale only runs from 6:02 am (MST) to 6:02 pm. Stop putting off your order, prices won't get any lower! Now that's a celebration.
As it happens, we are in moles right now (on-level, but we run on a trimester system and school starts the first week in August). I don't have the wherewithal to do fancy demos and we're a bit tight for time (trimester finals are 31st and 1st), but I want to find something as a treat...I'm just not sure yet what it will be. Thea (Indiana)