CHEMISTRY
Element Advertisement
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Students were commissioned to create an advertisement for their element, including several required facts and several optional facts they chose from a longer list. In order to succeed in subsequent topics in Chemistry, students need a basic understanding of the periodic table and periodic properties. This project serves as a fun way for students to explore this content.
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The exemplary projects below are colorful and entertaining.
Drug Reactions Project
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In this project, students researched a commonly abused drug and presented on the chemical reaction that takes place in the brain and body as well as the side effects of abusing this drug. The purpose of this project was to give purpose to our study of chemical reactions and to provide a link between what we were learning and what the students already learned in Biology. The examples presented here included the required information in depth, added some other interesting facts they discovered, and properly cited their sources throughout.
Exemplar 4 (2018)
Chemistry Around the House Project
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Students were directed to choose a household product with an ingredients label and analyze several of the ingredients. This gave students real-world examples of compound names and formulas, types of compounds, and how these classifications can be linked to their properties in various products.
Chemistry For...! Book
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For a final project, students created books modeled on the "...For Dummies" collection. Students chose a target audience and t least 5 of the topics we covered throughout the year and explained those topics as well as how they relate to the target audience. As a substitute for a whole class presentation, students had to read their book to someone in their target audience.
Build a Thermometer- Engineering Project
This year, I wanted to incorporate more of the Engineering standards from the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and I wanted my students to build and create more. As an introduction to the laboratory and to the Maker Movement, I had students build and optimize thermometers using vials, stoppers, glass tubing, and various liquids. The sample data and report below are exemplary because they use collected data to justify decisions about the materials they chose and made trade-offs based on costs as well.
Sugar Cube Lab-Design and Peer Editing
Students design their won lab procedure to test changes in either solubility or rate of solution. Their written procedure is critiqued by several classmates and after making changes, students attempt to carry out each other's procedures. I've found that this is a fun way to incorporate student choice and peer editing into the teaching of solubility and lab report writing.
Sample Student Progress
*Parent permission was given to use these students photos/videos for professional purposes.