Thursday, August 22, 2013

Chemistry Compilation

This post needs to begin with an apology to my 2012/2013 Chemistry class. I wanted to end the year on a fun and interesting note, so after our final test I assigned a final project. I divided the class into pairs...each pair was asked to prepare a basic Chemistry demonstration of some kind to present to an audience. With the busy schedule at the end of the year, I was never able to arrange a suitable audience, so we agreed that I would video the presentations and post them to my blog instead.

I promised to upload the compilation by early summer. No excuses....my head is now firmly in the sand, so no...I can't see the leaves changing color on the maple trees.

I'm not much for video editing, so what you see is pretty much exactly as it went down. However...the preparation week has been omitted for a number of good reasons.

For example: Note the volume of smoke created by Justin and Jordan in one of the final demonstrations on the video. Then imagine that demonstration occurring in a confined space known in the settled regions of Appalachia as a classroom....of course this is only in your imagination:)

After that week I noticed that I was super sensitive to anybody working beyond the perimeter of my peripheral vision (Not really). We all learned a lot along the way. I have some ideas for making the project even more effective next time and the students learned that teaching Chemistry might actually be harder than learning Chemistry....

They all did an excellent job...enjoy the video!