Let's Get At It!

After only 2 weeks of school, we had another lengthy break, allowing kids' brains to marinate in all the chemistry glory they have learned... right?! Assuming many students didn't get to much chemistry during the break, I will allow students time to get back into the groove on Tuesday... but it is a very important lesson, so hopefully they will be ready and willing to take it all in! 

This week, the chemistry 20s will have their first lab report due... and this may cause a little bit of stress in the class. Many students are afraid of the "Mogck Chem Lab" and feel they are not prepared for the expectations. This stress should be alleviated slightly, as the expectations are clearly outlined in the Science Department wide Lab Rubric. All science classes use this rubric to evaluate lab reports, however, obviously it is impossible to mark exactly the same for all classes. For this reason, the first lab report is to be taken with a grain of salt... I will ensure plenty of comments will allow clear understanding of my expectations for the following labs, and if students follow the guidelines and comments, it is impossible to do worse on the following labs. At the same time, chemistry 20 labs do require a relatively high level of understanding and application of the learning to the concept being analysed in the lab, which many students struggle with. The application and description of why they saw the results they did seems to be a difficult concept to express for the 20s. Obviously, lab reports and scientific writing is a work in progress, and by the end of semester, after performing 2-3 labs per unit, students will better understand lab concepts (and hopefully be able to apply this to lab specific final exam questions - and be prepared for chem 30!)


Soo.... after all of that... what's up for this week?!?


This week in Chem 30
Monday: still off... kids never seem to be at school anymore ;) 
Tuesday: Finish Lab 1 Inquiry
Wednesday: Lewis Diagrams and VSEPR (topic 4)
Thursday: Forces in Molecules (topic 5)
Friday: Unit A Quiz 1 (topic 1-4)


Upcoming Due Dates
Friday February 27 - Unit A Quiz (1-4)
Tuesday March 3 - Bonding Inquiry Lab due
Wednesday March 4 - Unit A EXAM
Monday March 9 - Meet my Molecule Project due


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