Anyone else have trouble with engagement with the adhesion/cohesion activity? The hands-on stuff was all good, but when it came to the actual concepts, talk about molecules/atoms/bonds, the students just wanted to tune out.
My question then, is how did anyone else conduct the discussion about the abstract chemistry stuff listed above?
Wed, 01/09/2013 - 12:55
I tried using white boards to draw the atoms and correct their misunderstandings of atomic structre and also to illustrate bonding (the fresbee modeling might help too) and magnets to illustrate polar bonds. My kids are older and have some prior knowledge, so drawing and "doing" things helped to engage them....
Wed, 01/23/2013 - 19:49
Thanks for the replies and suggestions!
Wed, 01/23/2013 - 22:32
boy engagement was a little tough on this one when it came to the content the activity was about. the students really enjoyed the investigation and tools they got to use though. i am glad you brought this up. i had another activity planned that the students knew was coming and was able to make some connections that way, but if not...
Tue, 01/08/2013 - 09:41
I just found this comment so I know it is rather late, but maybe this will help. I co-teach marine science with Paul Crowe and he let the lecture about the molecular aspects prior to the lab, and told students that they would need understanding of that information in order to do the lab, make predictions, etc. We were still pressed for time, though. We had trouble getting through answering all of the lab related questions at the end.