10 labs 3 prep rooms currently

Another great article on practical work in Chemistry from ianmcdaid.bsky.social I’ll be giving a good few of these a go in future lessons.

Having experienced colleagues who are confident enough to share being caught out by a good question and discuss it informally over lunch can really change the culture in a department.

100% agree. This is why retention of experienced staff is vital. Although you might think you have good subject knowledge only by teaching the content do you realise your own knowledge gaps. There is nothing like being asked ‘But why…’ or ‘What if….’ for seeing if you really understand a concept.

Thanks for the video. Its logic is so counter intuitive especially for students not strong in maths. Adds an extra level of complexity to already difficult calculations.

Some great practicals in this sequence. I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve never reacted chlorine with sodium (mainly because of the requirement for a gas jar of chlorine) but this has reminded me I must get it into my repertoire.

Thanks for sharing this Dave. As a student my secondary school had an unofficial (I think) motto of ‘Success is its own reward.’ We all bought in as a result I believe of being guided to develop the human needs you list.

Not chemistry but we had a great lesson last week investigating energy transfers with this PhET simulation. How does the mass and starting height of the skate boarder (the dog of course) affect their final speed? phet.colorado.edu/en/simulatio...

My class did a question today where they had to draw measuring rate with a syringe. Seemed very GCSE but in an old A-level paper.

Thanks for the update. Definitely sounds like something I need to give a go.