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Teach empirical formulas with rockets!
We all have them, favorite labs. You know the one that you can’t wait to do again next year. The Rocket Lab is that one for me. I will explain how this useful lab can be used to introduce empirical formula or stoichiometry. Even after the unit is over, I find myself referencing that lab and the kids remember! I am sure that there are kits online but the method I am using came in honor of my chemistry teacher, Mr. Gantz. I remember loving the rocket lab in his class in h
Brennan Koch
Nov 24, 20235 min read


Meet your chemistry students where they are. Push them from there.
Have you had an experience like this? You just gave an articulate, succinct and accurate description of a chemical process. You chose...
Brennan Koch
Nov 10, 20236 min read


5 Strategies to help kids talk more. About chemistry.
Your classroom might just be too quiet. The longer I have taught chemistry, the louder my room has gotten. And not because I’m losing...
Brennan Koch
Nov 3, 20234 min read


Using manipulatives and games to teach periodic trends.
How many different ways have you introduced periodic trends? It’s been many for me. This year may have been the best. It balanced...
Brennan Koch
Oct 27, 20234 min read


Mole Day: to celebrate or not to celebrate?
To celebrate Mole Day or not to celebrate, that is the question. If you go online right now you can make yourself feel pretty bad...
Brennan Koch
Oct 19, 20234 min read


Teach Le Chatelier's Principle of Equilibrium in a new way.
Le Chatelier’s Principle is easy. To you. But for whatever reason, it can take kids a while to see how perturbations to a system in...
Brennan Koch
Oct 13, 20233 min read


8 Keys to better parent-teacher conferences.
Here we go. Parent teacher conference time. For some of us, our blood pressure shoots sky high, we develop a twitch, and our eyes begin...
Brennan Koch
Oct 6, 20237 min read


Embrace your inner redneck. Teach chemistry better.
We should all embrace the redneck side of teaching. Simple. Functional. Unconventional. Odd. Even us hoity-toity chemistry teachers...
Brennan Koch
Sep 29, 20234 min read


Are you spending too much time on lab reports?
Are your lab reports too big? Probably. Over the past few years, I have taken a hard look at my lab reports from AP chemistry down to...
Brennan Koch
Sep 22, 20234 min read


How to use flame tests in a better unit.
I’ve been using the flame test lab in the wrong unit. Have you? For years, I’ve always used the flame test lab in my grade-level...
Brennan Koch
Sep 15, 20235 min read


How to teach dimensional analysis while preparing kids for stoichiometry
You might do it too. The teacher before you and the teacher before them had a unit at the beginning of the year to teach dimensional...
Brennan Koch
Sep 8, 20235 min read


Teach significant figures in a more significant way.
In your students’ minds, significant figures are not significant. In fact, they are an insignificant inconvenience. Just a random thing...
Brennan Koch
Sep 1, 20234 min read


Improve lab cleanliness with a tissue.
Your students think they are clean in the lab. They aren’t. Every one of us, during the lab safety talk, mentions keeping a clean and...
Brennan Koch
Aug 25, 20232 min read


Are you making periodic trends too complicated?
I’ve been overcomplicating the way I teach periodic trends. Have you? The goal of teaching periodic trends on the table is to allow the...
Brennan Koch
Aug 18, 20233 min read


You are asking the wrong questions. 10 better ways to talk to students on the first day of school.
You are asking the wrong questions to the kids who are coming into your classroom on the first day of school. How do I know? Because we...
Brennan Koch
Aug 4, 20234 min read


8 Chemistry Lessons from the Show 'Alone'
I love the show “Alone” on the History Channel. It is one of my dreams to be on the show. Facing off against the unknown wild, trying...
Brennan Koch
Jul 21, 20237 min read


11 Final Keys from APSI Chemistry 2023
And now for the notes from the final day of APSI chemistry 2023. 1. The Nernst equation and deviations are primarily tested...
Brennan Koch
Jun 30, 20232 min read


14 Key Takeaways from Day 3 of APSI Chemistry.
Welcome to day 3 of the APSI 2023 in chemistry. Here are the top takeaways from today’s session. 1. In a buffer system, the weak...
Brennan Koch
Jun 29, 20233 min read


12 Highlights from AP Chemistry Summer Institute Day 2
Another day at the AP Chemistry Summer Institute completed. Here are my highlights from today. 1. Show animations for dynamic...
Brennan Koch
Jun 28, 20233 min read


10 Highlights from AP Chemistry Summer Institute 2023 (APSI) Day 1
I am attending an AP Chemistry summer institute for the next few days. I will post a few highlights and valuable links so you can glean...
Brennan Koch
Jun 27, 20232 min read
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