I know that we have only had two classes so far, but I thought that some of you might have been confused about the topic of hydrocarbons. For example, how does one write all of the structural formulas for a given molecular formula? This video should help you out if you were confused about the "Exploring Structural Isomers" worksheet from Friday's class.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Welcome to Chemistry
Here is a summary of our activities from the first two days of school:
AP Chemistry:
After a brief introduction and overview, I began to review material from Chapter 1. The homework assignment was to read Chapters 1 and 2, which represents basic information about chemistry. I also handed out two pieces of paper, which included sample questions from VA SOL tests in Chemistry and sample questions from AP Chemistry tests. The purpose of these two papers was to give students a general feeling of "That was then...and this is now." Please see me for extra help if you need to review anything from Chemistry I.
Advanced Chemistry
On Wednesday I introduced students to the concepts of laboratory safety, and the homework was to complete a Lab Safety Quiz. I also introduced some math concepts that are relevant to chemistry. We talked about the procedure for how to convert a number into scientific notation. We also discussed how to do multiplication and division with numbers in scientific notation.
On Thursday (today) we did a short "do now" problem that involved algebraic skills in rearranging variables in an equation. We started with an equation "PV = nRT." Students were rearranging this equation to isolate each one of the five letters. We did more work on math concepts relevant to chemistry. We discussed conversion factors, which are ratios that are used to convert from one unit to another. For example, you can use the density of an object to convert from mL to g (or from g to mL). We did a brief lab experiment in which students used a plastic straw to compare the relative density of three colored solutions. The homework assignment was to do the following. Write a procedure for how to determine the density of a liquid. Tomorrow we will be giving you a math assessment, so review your math skills.
Don't forget to bring a 3-ring binder to class, with paper and pencils. Bring a calculator to chemistry class every day!
AP Chemistry:
After a brief introduction and overview, I began to review material from Chapter 1. The homework assignment was to read Chapters 1 and 2, which represents basic information about chemistry. I also handed out two pieces of paper, which included sample questions from VA SOL tests in Chemistry and sample questions from AP Chemistry tests. The purpose of these two papers was to give students a general feeling of "That was then...and this is now." Please see me for extra help if you need to review anything from Chemistry I.
Advanced Chemistry
On Wednesday I introduced students to the concepts of laboratory safety, and the homework was to complete a Lab Safety Quiz. I also introduced some math concepts that are relevant to chemistry. We talked about the procedure for how to convert a number into scientific notation. We also discussed how to do multiplication and division with numbers in scientific notation.
On Thursday (today) we did a short "do now" problem that involved algebraic skills in rearranging variables in an equation. We started with an equation "PV = nRT." Students were rearranging this equation to isolate each one of the five letters. We did more work on math concepts relevant to chemistry. We discussed conversion factors, which are ratios that are used to convert from one unit to another. For example, you can use the density of an object to convert from mL to g (or from g to mL). We did a brief lab experiment in which students used a plastic straw to compare the relative density of three colored solutions. The homework assignment was to do the following. Write a procedure for how to determine the density of a liquid. Tomorrow we will be giving you a math assessment, so review your math skills.
Don't forget to bring a 3-ring binder to class, with paper and pencils. Bring a calculator to chemistry class every day!
Friday, August 12, 2011
What is Chemistry?
Some of you may be taking chemistry this year and wondering what to expect. This video gives you a brief introduction to chemistry and offers some tips for being successful in my class. Stay tuned for more tutorial videos coming soon!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)