Electrochemical Cell Challenge

Last week's short week came with its challenges. There are still a variety of students thinking they are able to drop chemistry 30. There is honour and pride in sticking it out in a class that is challenging, and I have become increasingly frustrated with the students giving up on themselves. Quite honestly, if a student hands in projects, their mark will be very near 50%, even if they fail every assessment. I do not set students up to fail in chem 30. I teach the curriculum, with added depth, so that when they get to tests and the diploma, they have that added little information and understanding to do better on the assessment. In my class, the assessments are based on previous diploma questions, provided by Alberta Education. They are completely fair assessments. Chemistry 30 is simply a very difficult course. The admin and advising staff has mentioned that students will not be allowed to drop chemistry 30 this late in the game, so hopefully kids will just put in a little bit more effort with a positive attitude.

Last week the chem 30s had 3 classes worth of labs and projects. This is very important for their understanding of the chemistry 30 curricular outcomes, as it is difficult to learn hands on material without physically performing hands on labs! On Friday, the 30s received a unique new project that I developed due to the fact that students really struggle with this topic on the diploma. I asked students in groups of 2 to create a working voltaic and electrolytic cell; prior to introducing these topics. The trick was, I asked them to create the cells with household materials. This seemed to be more of the challenge for many students, as they were asking where to buy specific chemicals. The key is again that these cells are to be made of household materials (i.e. coins, paper clips, etc). I am interested to see if the chem 30s can think outside of the chemistry box, and apply their inquiry to simple every day life applications.

Coming up this week, the chem 30s will learn the theory behind voltaic and electrolytic cells. Students also have the opportunity to rewrite the first unit test Monday after school (3:45-5:30) and they have 2 work periods to work on their labs and projects. I would like to encourage students to come in for extra help if they are struggling to understand this unit, as it is worth 30% of the curricular outcomes on the diploma exam. 

This week in Chem 30 
Monday: Work Period
Tuesday: Topic 6 Voltaic Cells
Wednesday: Topic 7 Electrolytic Cells
Thursday: Topic 8 Faraday's Law in Electrolytic Cells
Friday: Work Period (Ms. Mogck Away for Vball) 

Upcoming Due Dates and Assessments 
Monday Oct 19: Unit A REWRITE Afterschool 
Thursday Oct 22: Redox Titration Lab due
Tuesday Oct 27: Unit B Electrochem Test
Wednesday Oct 28: Cell Inquiry Lab due (partner lab) 
Wednesday Nov 4: CHEM 30 MIDTERM
 

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