http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/resources/highschool/chemmatters.html
ChemMatters Magazine online is a resource for chemistry teachers and students that claims to "demystify chemistry". There are multiple options for use of the site in a high school classroom. Teachers have the option of subscribing to the magazine for a fee, but the site also offers a limited number of articles from the issues online for free. The articles in ChemMatters magazine focus on the chemistry that is present in everyday life. The writers attempt to connect with students' interests and everyday experience and explain phenomena on a level that is understandable by the layman. Generally, the articles are kept under a couple of pages and offer many graphics, drawings, and pictures to supplement the reading. Students would enjoy the option of many of these texts in studying a subject as opposed to studying in the context of a far removed experience or setting.
The online site also offers teachers ideas on how to implement their materials in the classroom (homework assignments, extra credit, supplementary reading, daily reading, review, etc.). Along with articles and ideas, there are many short videos available for classroom use that take the same approach as the articles to meeting students where they are, but offer the information in a visual and auditory form.
Kelsey,
ReplyDeleteI really like the concept of this magazine! I spent just a few seconds perusing the homepage and immediately was curious to know what they had to say about the chemistry behind things like perfume and barbeque. I know that high school students would be equally interested. It seems like a grown up version of Bill Nye the Science Guy! He desmystified science for me, once. :) It is so useful when a resource offers teacher materials as well. I bet the short videos they have would be cool to show at the end of a relevant unit or something. I'm sure they are much more current than many of the science videos that you could show. The authentic nature of these materials seems very "Common Core", and would be a strong point for a teacher trying to make authentic connections (which, as I see that you mentioned in your post below is what science teachers ALWAYS do!).
Bummer that you have to pay to subscribe!