Apologia Chemistry and Young Explorers Chemistry and Physics: Let’s play with Polymers!

Today is all about playing with polymers:  Vanishing Marbles, Instant Snow, and Flabbergasted or Slime.  Take a look at the slime link.  The idea today is to experiment!  I’m bringing several types of glue for the kids to combine with borax solution to test their different properties.   The Instant Snow link has ideas for experiments, too.  The kids will have fun in the context of solid experimental design.  Today, all of the kids in both classes are working together.

Apologia Chemistry: Organic Nomenclature Crash Course

Quick Update:  Goodwill online often has molecular models.  Search with ‘molecular’, ‘molecule’, and under kits.

Christmas Break looms large.  We are taking a break from balancing chemical reactions to learn organic nomenclature.  First I review an Introduction to Organic Nomenclature and draw several examples on the board.  I have the kids copy the names of the first ten Alkanes.  Yes, I use terms such as parent chain, substitute St, and functional groups.  Once I’ve drawn a few hydrocarbons, I build a molecule or two to compare it with those on the board.  Then I throw the kids right into the worksheets, which view, condensed structural formulas, line formulas, and molecular formulas.  After. The kids have completed five molecules, I have them build the five with the molecule kits to make the connection in their heads.  Trust me this approach works.

I use these worksheets: WS 10.4 and WS 10.7   I also have the kids build the molecules they name.  I bought these models online at Goodwill, over a few years because I use them for Biology, Chemistry, and Physical Science.  You could make your own kits.   I recommend marshmallows or clay models.  CPK Coloring represents the traditional colors for the atoms.We use three different kits to build the organic molecules: Moly Mod, Molecular Vision, and Molecules of Life.