Curriculum materials can play a major role in shaping teachers' thinking about instruction and content as well as serve as a support for teachers' learning. With the inclusion of engineering in NGSS, many teachers may be turning to existing curriculum materials to help them infuse engineering into their science classroom, especially when they do…

There is an increasing focus across all educational sectors to ensure that learning objectives are aligned with learning activities and assessments. An attractive approach previously published is that of curriculum alignment projects. This paper discusses the use of the fun and famous "Elephant's Toothpaste" experiment as a customizable…

This paper reports on a pedagogical approach to the teaching of chemical equations introduced to first year university students with little previous chemical knowledge. During the instruction period students had to interpret and construct diagrams of reactions at the submicro level, and relate them to chemical equations at the symbolic level with…

This two-part series describes the structure of the stoichiometry course at North Carolina State University. The course had a variety of learning objectives, and several nontraditional pedagogies were used in the course delivery. The first paper outlined the course structure and policies, the preparation given to the teaching assistants who played…

Discusses ways of teaching the mole concept in high school chemistry classes. Provides resource information on the mole and Avogadro's Number. Includes an explanation of four methods for measuring Avogadro's Number and instructions on how to use the mole. (MA)

Background: The current mode of stoichiometry instruction employs a passive pedagogy that consists of students reading, listening, watching, and memorizing disembodied facts, procedures, and principles in preparation for future application. But chemistry students are often subsequently unable to apply this stoichiometry knowledge in equilibrium…

Reviews the history of the stoichiometric term "equivalent" and examines its relevance over the last hundred years. (MLH)

Pictorial analogies that demonstrate concepts of amounts allow instructors to teach that in stoichiometric problems, the number--or moles--of molecules of a chemical is what matters, even though it must be measured in masses or volumes. Analogies to stoichiometric relationships include the ratio of four wheels to one body in making wagons and…

The stoichiometry of the reaction between potassium chromate and barium chloride is determined by analysis of precipitates by mixing various amounts of both solutions. (GS)

Describes an experiment designed to augment textual materials conducive to the inquiry approach to learning. The experiment is the culminating experience in a series designed to illustrate the fundamental nature of the atom: its quantized energy nature, its electrical nature, and its combining ability. (Author/GS)

Describes a sequential problem solving method for teaching stoichiometry to high school students. Provides several sample problems. (CS)

Describes an experiment in which possible products of a series of reactions are tabulated together with properties which may be useful in identifying each substance. The student deduces the products and writes a balanced chemical equation for the reaction. (GS)

Describes a variation of typical introductory chemistry stoichiometry experiments in which the reaction is run in a modified 20-ounce plastic soda bottle. (WRM)

Describes a take-home exam story problem based on stoichiometry. Requires the student to determine the percentage of phosphoric acid in a large container of nitric acid if a man fell into it. Provides assumptions, clues, and an acceptable solution. (MVL)

Examines the thermal decomposition of sodium bicarbonate to sodium carbonate. Encourages students to predict the end products and to use the stoichiometric results to determine if their predictions are correct. (MVL)