Nanomaterials Chemistry

Submitted by Anne Bentley / Lewis & Clark College on Wed, 03/23/2016 - 15:49

This list includes a number of LOs to help in teaching nanomaterials subjects; however, it is not exhaustive.

Updated June 2018.

ColourLex - a colorful website!

Submitted by Vanessa / Albion College on Tue, 03/15/2016 - 13:49
Description

ColourLex (colourlex.com) is an amazing website that mixes chemistry and art. The creators of this website have extensively catalogued paintings and the pigments that were used to create them. The pigments range from artificial to natural and organic to inorganic. You can search for the specific combination that you want to see.

Shape & Polarity Review with Clickers

Submitted by Jim Kirby / Quinnipiac University on Tue, 07/07/2015 - 00:01
Description

A set of questions to be used in General or Introductory Inorganic Chemistry as a review or “quiz” of shapes and polarities.

Peer Review - How does it work?: A literature discussion with a focus on scientific communication

Submitted by Mike Norris / University of Richmond on Thu, 07/02/2015 - 20:21
Description

This learning object is based on discussion of the literature, but it follows a paper through the peer review process.  Students first read the original submitted draft of a paper to ChemComm that looks at photochemical reduction of methyl viologen using CdSe quantum dots.  There are several important themes relating to solar energy storage and the techniques discussed, UV/vis, SEM, TEM, electrochemistry, and catalysis, can be used for students in inorganic chemistry.

Kinetics of electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide by Mn catalysts containing bulky bipyridine ligands

Submitted by Kathleen Field / WGU on Thu, 07/02/2015 - 17:23
Description

This question set has students examine the kinetics of the electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to CO described in Sampson, D.L.; Nguygen, D., Grice, K.A.; Moore, C.E.; Rheingold, A.L.; Kubiak, C.P. Manganese Catalysts with Bulky Bipyridine Ligands for the Electrocatalytic Reduction of Carbon Dioxide:  Eliminating Dimerization and Altering Catalysis.  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 5460-5471. 

Analyzing a journal article for basic themes, roles of authors, and the scientific method

Submitted by Darren Achey / Kutztown University on Thu, 07/02/2015 - 15:03
Description

This literature discussion is meant to give students an understanding of both the key concept-driven and more “meta” information of a literature paper.  Students will use Jillian Dempsey’s paper, “Electrochemical hydrogenation of a homogeneous nickel complex to form a surface-adsorbed hydrogen-evolving species,” to investigate paper authorship, how the scientific method is used in research, and how to understand the important findings of a research article.

 

Reference: Chem. Commun., 2015, 51, 5290-5293

DOI:10.1039/C4CC08662G

 

The Nature of Science

Submitted by Lori Watson / Earlham College on Thu, 07/02/2015 - 12:00
Description

I do this activity as an introduction to the nature of science.  An object (not easily guessable) is put into a paper bag.  The job of the class is to figure out what is in the bag. At first, the students are simply shown the bag (sense of sight). Discussion (hypotheses) ensues on what could be in the bag.  I then walk around and shake the bag so students can hear what's in it (hearing). This results in more discussion, with some previous ideas being discarded. The bag is then passed around and students can feel (but not open!) the bag and also try to smell it.

Chemistry Infographics from Compound Interest

Submitted by Darren Achey / Kutztown University on Tue, 06/30/2015 - 14:48
Description

Compound Interest is a website that creates infographics for chemistry related events and items.  Specific examples of inorganic chemistry infographics include showing how the metal content in colored glass gives the glass its characteristic color, how the lighting of a match works with the conversion of red phosphorus to white phosphorus, and the various colors that transition metals can have in different oxidation states in water, among many other examples.

The Messy Chemist: Separating a Solid Mixture

Submitted by Mike Norris / University of Richmond on Tue, 06/30/2015 - 14:42
Description

This lab exercise gives students a problem scenario (a mixture of 4 solids) and asks them to determine a way to separate them from each other utilizing experimentation, previous knowledge, and discussion.  Students are expected to write a standard operating procedure detailing the method they determine for the separation at the end of the lab.  A modified version of this lab was originally performed in an accelerated summer class on chemistry given to 7th, 8th, and 9th graders that were on a track for early entrance into college.  The lab was done over the c

Subscribe to First year