Ultimate STEM: The Book
Bio
Lucy Young is a chemistry teacher at Lane Tech College Prep High School in Chicago, IL. She just completed her 8th year of teaching. Prior to becoming a teacher, Lucy worked in various medical research labs. Her teaching toolbox is full of hands-on and analytical lessons.
Lucy Young is a chemistry teacher at Lane Tech College Prep High School in Chicago, IL. She just completed her 8th year of teaching. Prior to becoming a teacher, Lucy worked in various medical research labs. Her teaching toolbox is full of hands-on and analytical lessons.
5 Key Components
1) Becoming a facilitator opens the door for students to guide their own learning, and take the lesson in a direction that best serves students’ needs.
2) Students learn best when they have confidence and support to explore or expand upon their learning. This is when teachers see the most “aha” moments.
3) It’s important to motivate learners to think about how they can apply what they are learning and give students choices in meeting the learning objectives.
4) All lessons use tools and/or technology as supplemental materials to increase student engagement and understanding.
5) Lessons provide students with problems and allow them to use creative outlets (drawings, cartoons, software, Socratic seminar, solar car) to take charge of their learning.
1) Becoming a facilitator opens the door for students to guide their own learning, and take the lesson in a direction that best serves students’ needs.
2) Students learn best when they have confidence and support to explore or expand upon their learning. This is when teachers see the most “aha” moments.
3) It’s important to motivate learners to think about how they can apply what they are learning and give students choices in meeting the learning objectives.
4) All lessons use tools and/or technology as supplemental materials to increase student engagement and understanding.
5) Lessons provide students with problems and allow them to use creative outlets (drawings, cartoons, software, Socratic seminar, solar car) to take charge of their learning.
My Amazing Teaching Moment
Stoichiometry is used in chemistry to make meaningful relationships with the amounts of substances in a balanced chemical reaction. “Stoichio” means elements, “metry” means measurement. Using stoichiometry is like following an exact recipe. The chemical reaction must be balanced, using coefficients. These coefficients allow for us to show the relationship between substances using the mole ratio. The mole is a unit of measurement in chemistry. The unit on stoichiometry begins with students creating a flip chart. This flip chart allows students to move through the process of solving stoichiometry problems. Students are given a problem set that allows them to practice stoichiometry problem solving. An extension of this lesson is for the students create “Stoichiometry Stories”. In this activity, student worked in groups of 3 or 4 of their choosing. Students were given chemical reactions that were a little more elaborate than the ones we have worked with. Students were asked to translate the word equation to the formula equation and then balance the equation. For example, one student group was given the reaction between potassium chlorate and red phosphorus which takes place when you strike a match on a matchbox. The resulting products are tetraphosphorus decaoxide and potassium chloride. All substances are solid. So, students translate these words into the balanced formula equation:
10 KClO3 (s) + 3 P4 (s) → 3 P4O10 (s) + 10 KCl (s)
From there, they were to create four problems based upon their flip charts, but the four problems had to be related in a story. Students needed draw out the chemical reaction taking place, using color. Each group member was responsible for some part, either the story, drawing, coloring, calculations, significant figures, and units. From this, students created amazing “Stoichiometry Stories”, showcasing their creative and technical talents.
Stoichiometry is used in chemistry to make meaningful relationships with the amounts of substances in a balanced chemical reaction. “Stoichio” means elements, “metry” means measurement. Using stoichiometry is like following an exact recipe. The chemical reaction must be balanced, using coefficients. These coefficients allow for us to show the relationship between substances using the mole ratio. The mole is a unit of measurement in chemistry. The unit on stoichiometry begins with students creating a flip chart. This flip chart allows students to move through the process of solving stoichiometry problems. Students are given a problem set that allows them to practice stoichiometry problem solving. An extension of this lesson is for the students create “Stoichiometry Stories”. In this activity, student worked in groups of 3 or 4 of their choosing. Students were given chemical reactions that were a little more elaborate than the ones we have worked with. Students were asked to translate the word equation to the formula equation and then balance the equation. For example, one student group was given the reaction between potassium chlorate and red phosphorus which takes place when you strike a match on a matchbox. The resulting products are tetraphosphorus decaoxide and potassium chloride. All substances are solid. So, students translate these words into the balanced formula equation:
10 KClO3 (s) + 3 P4 (s) → 3 P4O10 (s) + 10 KCl (s)
From there, they were to create four problems based upon their flip charts, but the four problems had to be related in a story. Students needed draw out the chemical reaction taking place, using color. Each group member was responsible for some part, either the story, drawing, coloring, calculations, significant figures, and units. From this, students created amazing “Stoichiometry Stories”, showcasing their creative and technical talents.