Twelve Techie Gifts - Day 2: Haiku Deck

Create simple, engaging slideshow presentations with Haiku Deck. This software is flexible for use on a desktop, laptop, or tablet. You can subscribe to Haiku Deck Basic for a free version; however, the software limits some of the features that may only be accessible through paid versions. 

Please note that SlideShare will no longer support the Haiku Deck presentation as of December 15, 2015. 

Note: I am not affiliated with any of the technology companies presented in the 12 Days of Techie Tips series.  I assist the technology committee on my campus in order to find and share awesome resources with other educators so that they may have alternative resources to utilize in their classrooms. 

Twelve Techie Gifts - Day 1: PowToon

Looking for an alternative method to present content to your students instead of using PowerPoint or Prezi? Why not check out PowToon - a free animated video/presentation software. PowToon allows an individual to create digital stories or presentations in a non-traditional format (e.g. PowerPoint).  The software is applicable to all grade levels and could be utilized in a flipped classroom model.  The video below illustrates a PowToon in action, as well a short explanation on how you can start using the software to create your own PowToon. 

You may also visit the PowToon homepage or YouTube site for tutorial videos

**The free version allows a person to utilize the software, however, the software applications are limited.  Please review the pricing plans here.

Note: I am not affiliated with any of the technology companies presented in the 12 Techie Gifts series.  I assist the technology committee on my campus in order to find and share awesome resources with other educators so that they may have alternative resources to utilize in their classrooms. 

Cyber Sale (November 30th - December 1st)

I am participating in the TpT  Cyber Monday-Tuesday Sale (November 30th-December 1st).  

Everything in my store will be 20% off. Additionally,  you can receive an additional 8% with the TeachersPayTeachers site-wide sale code: SMILE.   Here are a few items you may want to check out while you can during the site-wide sale: 

Enhance your chemistry interactive notebooks (INBs) with either the middle school or high school INB bundle.  Both come with note sheets and interactive graphic organizers for atomic structure, the Periodic Table, numbers in science, and conservation of mass.  The high school version comes with the following additional topics: ionic bonding, covalent bonding, and the mole concept. 

A sample video of the Periodic Table version

Engage you students in a review with a "I Have...Who Has..." card sort activity.  There are various versions from DNA and RNA, Classification, Matter and Change, Covalent Bonding,  and Atomic Structure to name a few. 

The Chemistry Task Cards 9-in-1 Bundle is one of my more extensive sets as it covers 9 unit concepts. A video of the Periodic Table set is shown here:

Make sure you check out these other superb, secondary science sellers on Teachers Pay Teachers!

1. Science and Math With Mrs Lau	2. Kesler Science	3. MsRazz ChemClass	4. Getting Nerdy with Mel and Gerdy
5. Nitty Gritty Science	6. Amy Brown Science	7. The Science Duo	8. Science in the City:Cyber Monday (& Tuesday) Sale
9. Science Island	10. Bond with James

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(Submissions close in 2d 10h 3m)

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How do we represent covalent compounds?

I shared this in a 2013 blog post, however, I have updated it some what and included a few more pictures.  This is an instructional strategy to help students explore the representation of covalent compounds through the use of a gallery walk. I recommend doing this activity before diving into notes/lecture (i.e. a type of inquiry lesson). You can use the activity as a reference point when speaking to students about bonding concepts during direction instruction.

How does this work? You will need to create a few electron dot structure posters of various covalent compounds. Create two for each compound - one showing the bonds as electrons (Lewis structure) and the other showing the bonds as lines (structural formula). Using the colors of the molecular models also helps (oxygen in red, nitrogen in blue, etc.) - which means you probably should print in color; however, printing in black and white that will not hinder the activity. 

Give or ask students to obtain two Post-It notes. One Post-It will be used for an "I notice..." statement. Students should look for patterns or things that look familiar.  In the picture below, someone wrote, "I notice N has 8 dots and each H has 2". 

The other Post-It will be used for an "I wonder..." statement. Students should pose questions about what they see on the poster. 

You can also use the activity to discover misconceptions / misunderstandings. For example, in the picture above, someone wrote, "This is a sickness", with an arrow pointing to the word ammonia. Clearly this student has pneumonia and ammonia mixed up; yet, it presents an opportunity to address this issue in class. 

Of course, you should be on the look out for potential inappropriate statements; although, I recommend referencing that during the activity expectations.  However, if you're worried about managing the comments, you could adapt the activity and have students complete the gallery walk in their interactive notebooks (if you use them) by writing the molecules you have posters for and create a two column page with the "I noticed..." and "I wondered..." sections. 

As an extension, you could have students pair up or get in groups of four to discuss what they each wrote and come to a group consensus on a  few or all of the molecules.  Have each group share out or contribute an idea to create a class anchor chart on chart paper (for "I noticed" and "I wondered").  Reference the anchor chart as you discuss covalent bonding/compounds and have students answer their own "I wondered" statements as you proceed through the unit. 

Another extension is adding some ionic posters to the mix.  You could do this during the ionic bonding unit or after you've talked about covalent bonding. 

Do you have any suggestions for enhancing this activity or an activity that you could incorporate with what I've shared here? Feel free to comment in the comment section. 

Need more resources for teaching covalent bonding and nomenclature? Check out the video and pictures below.

Activities and tips to help develop a science curriculum

Activities and tips to help develop a science curriculum
Posted by Bond with James on Saturday, October 3, 2015

Electron Configuration

I am late sharing this; however, it's better late than never. This is something that was shared by a former colleague of mine, Ms. Julia Sloan. I thought it was a great way to visually represent e- configuration to help students with the concept.  The following rules for assigning electron orbitals can be applied:

1. The Aufbau Principle 

Aufbau, which comes from the German word aufbauen, means to build up or arrange.  This particular principle states that electrons occupy the lowest available energy orbital.   The large poster, with the cups attached and arrow on the side, is a great visualization of this principle.

2. The Pauli Exclusion Principle

This principle is based states that a maximum of two electrons can occupy an orbital; however the electrons must have opposite spins. You could use blank dominoes or other pieces to illustrate this as shown in the picture above.  

3. Hund's Rule:

This rule is based on the concept that electrons repel one another. Therefore, orbitals in a sub-level are first occupied by a single electron prior to the addition of an another electron with an opposite spin (see # 2 above).  Of course the pom poms in the cup don't show this in the picture here, however, students would still need to place an "electron" in each cup first prior to pairing them together.  You could stand from afar and observe students to determine if they understood how this rule is applied. 

The materials:

• White butcher paper and markers.
• Craft pom poms can be ordered online or at a local craft store.  These will serve as electrons.
• Clear plastic cups - used to hold the electrons.
• Velcro- used to adhere the cups to the butcher paper. 
• Of course you could always substitute and create your own version. 

Depending on your resources, you could create one for the class or create one per group and have students work together to complete a few problems. This is a great way to introduce the topic - whether it be a lecture and/or a student activity. I know this would have helped me as a student due to the visual and hands-on approach; as well as the fact that I would have had fun learning at the same time. 

What are your thoughts concerning this hands-on way to teach electron configuration? Feel free to share your answer or ideas in the Comments Section below. 

Let's Bond with One Another!

Interested in another activity for your ionic bonding unit? Well, check out the 2 minute video below concerning an activity I found during my second year in education. 
FYI - the video links will not work if you're viewing on a mobile device or tablet. 

The original activity is titled Bond with a Classmate and was created by Gail Sanders.  You can find the FREE monatomic templates shown in the video and a worksheet at the source site here. This site also has a lot of great items that helped me out when I first started teaching - especially, when I had no help or curriculum; so I hope you find the items there to be useful as well. :)

While the templates were great, I found that they were missing the polyatomic ions and the multivalent, transition metal ions.  Therefore, I was inspired to extend the activity for high school level students and created additional ions to use with my students. These templates are also FREE and can be found by clicking here. 

As mentioned in the video, this activity serves as a great instructional tool that allows your students the opportunity to get up and move around (or even take them outside as shown in the pictures in the video).  

I would love to hear if you've tried this activity before (or if you were inspired to try it checking out the site and my video).  As always, thank you for taking time out of your day for stopping by.