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Dèjà Review

Book Chapter

Dèjà Review

This is the second chemistry book in the Stop Faking It! series—the first one is Chemistry Basics. This book introduces new concepts and expands on many of the concepts presented in the first book, hence the author felt it would be helpful to begi...

Elementary High School Middle School Chemistry Physical Science

Dynamic Atoms

Book Chapter

Dynamic Atoms

This chapter is about states of matter and a section of chemistry called thermodynamics which is the inspiration (or lack thereof) for the chapter title. The chapter might seem just a bit disconnected from the content in the rest of the book, but it�...

Elementary High School Middle School Chemistry Physical Science

The Name's Bond ... Pi Bond

Book Chapter

The Name's Bond ... Pi Bond

To begin this chapter, you need to picture electrons in atoms as residing in orbitals—those fuzzy things that can be spherical, dumbbell-shaped, or even ring-shaped. The author addresses orbitals and why they’re fuzzy and then deals with how the ...

Elementary High School Middle School Chemistry Physical Science

Special Reactions

Book Chapter

Special Reactions

The basics of chemical reactions were covered in the first chemistry book, including how to write and balance chemical equations that represent those reactions. There is also a quick review of chemical reactions in Chapter 1 of this book. We’re goi...

Elementary High School Middle School Chemistry Physical Science

Half a Life is Better Than None

Book Chapter

Half a Life is Better Than None

Most of chemistry deals with chemical reactions and, hence, with how electrons in atoms behave either in single atoms or when those atoms get together with other atoms. There is a branch, though, that deals with the nuclei of atoms—and that’s wha...

Elementary High School Middle School Chemistry Physical Science

A Little Organic

Book Chapter

A Little Organic

It would be impossible to investigate even a fraction of organic chemistry in this book, so in this chapter the author goes over a few things that will complement the limited organic chemistry in the first book. This is not a comprehensive chapter on...

Chemistry Physical Science Teaching Strategies Teacher Preparation

NSTA Press Book

Uncovering Student Ideas in Science, Volume 4: 25 New Formative Assessment Probes

Wouldn't it be helpful to know what your students' ideas are about a science concept before launching into a new lesson or unit? Uncovering Student Ideas in Science, Volume 4, offers 25 more formative assessment probes to help reveal students' precon...

By Joyce Tugel, Page Keeley

Elementary High School Middle School Earth & Space Science Life Science Physical Science Assessment Crosscutting Concepts Curriculum Instructional Materials Inquiry Lesson Plans NGSS Phenomena Teaching Strategies Interdisciplinary Professional Learning old Research Teacher Preparation

Magnets in Water

Book Chapter

Magnets in Water

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students' ideas about magnetism. The probe is specifically designed to determine whether students believe air is necessary for magnets to work....

Elementary High School Middle School Physical Science Physics Assessment Phenomena

Ice Water

Book Chapter

Ice Water

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students' ideas about temperature in the context of phases of matter. The probe is designed to find out if students recognize that the temperature of a substance does not change when two phases are pr...

High School Middle School Physical Science Assessment Teaching Strategies

NSTA Press Book

Uncovering Student Ideas in Science, Volume 3: Another 25 Formative Assessment Probes

Because you demanded it! Since publication of Volume 1 of this series, thousands of teachers are using these innovative classroom tools to improve student learning in science. Following in the footsteps of earlier volumes in the Uncovering Student Id...

By Page Keeley, Francis Eberle, Chad Dorsey

Elementary High School Middle School Earth & Space Science Life Science Physical Science Assessment Curriculum Instructional Materials Inquiry Lesson Plans NGSS Phenomena Teaching Strategies Interdisciplinary New Science Teachers Professional Learning old Research Teacher Preparation

Simple Models

Book Chapter

Simple Models

As stated in “About This Book,” the author isn’t going to take the usual approach to the subject of chemistry. Because virtually all explanations of chemical reactions are based on our current model of atoms and molecules, the first thing to do...

Elementary High School Middle School Chemistry Physical Science

Better Models

Book Chapter

Better Models

At the end of the first chapter, you realized, hopefully, that the model of an atom that we have so far (Rutherford’s model of a concentrated positive nucleus with negative charges around it) doesn’t go very far in helping us explain observations...

Elementary High School Chemistry Physical Science

Periodicity

Book Chapter

Periodicity

In thinking about a title for this chapter, the word periodicity came to mind. I was sure this had some kind of pop culture reference. After discussing this with my wife, we figured I was thinking of synchronicity, which is a reference to music b...

High School Middle School Chemistry Physical Science

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