Describes a laboratory activity in which polystyrene spheres in two preassembled motifs must be arranged to form a tetrahedral structure. (MLH)

Describes the use of balloon models to illustrate chemical bonding in atoms. (BR)

Compares the coulumbic point charge model for hydrogen chloride with the valence bond model. It is not possible to assign either a nonpolar or ionic canonical form of the valence bond model, while the covalent-ionic bond distribution does conform to the point charge model. (JM)

Describes a bonding theory which provides a framework for the description of a wide range of substances and provides quantitative information of remarkable accuracy with far less computational effort than that required of other approaches. Includes applications, such as calculation of bond energies of two binary hydrides (methane and diborane).…

Shows how to make close-packed models from balloons and table tennis balls to illustrate structural features of clusters and organometallic cluster-compounds (which are of great interest in the study of chemical reactions). These models provide a very inexpensive and tactile illustration of the organization of matter for concrete operational…

Provides instructions for making, inexpensively from envelopes, two polyhedra that illustrate chemical geometries. The individual steps involved, supported by detailed diagrams, are included. (JN)

Discusses a successfully implemented laboratory experiment that compares the strengths and weaknesses of mechanical and computer models. The computer models used are available from the Quantum Chemistry Program Exchange (QCPE) at a modest price. (JN)

Describes a study involving 86 fifth-grade science students to enhance their understandings of basic biological chemistry. Contains a lesson that allows students to build models of atoms and molecules. (ZWH)

Describes the use of rubber hand-stamps to generate molecular pictures. These stamps (prepared with shapes of atoms and molecules at little cost by small, local print shops) can be used in creating pictures representing the microscopic state that can be linked to macroscopic descriptions for active conceptual exploration. (JN)

Describes how to construct a model of a DNA molecule with inexpensive materials. (BR)

Reviewed are experimental methods (diffraction, spectroscopic, and resonance methods) used to obtain the structural parameters of bond angles and bond lengths in molecules. The valence shell electron pair repulsion theory (VSEPR) is summarized and applied to several real molecules. (CS)

Proposes a model for kinetic processes said to be similar in computational effort and yielding similar results to conventional transition state theory (TST), while maintaining parsimony and credulity. Argues that partitioning of states into groups be limited to energy space in contrast to TST. (JM)

Dynamic crystal model kits are described. Laboratory experiments in which students use these kits to build models have been extremely successful in providing them with an understanding of the three-dimensional structures of the common cubic unit cells as well as hexagonal and cubic closest-packing of spheres. (JN)

Describes how to use the distinctive properties of osazone formation in conjunction with molecular model construction to demonstrate the relationship between the three-dimensional structures of simple sugars and the shapes of crystals they form. (BR)