My students have a fascination for the world around them, and I try to incorporate as much hands-on learning into the classroom as possible. However, they often struggle in some aspects of chemistry that are harder to visualize. An iPad would allow them a hands-on approach to chemistry.
I am the chemistry teacher at my school, which means I only have one short semester to impact the lives of my students.
I teach about 90 students per day, and since I only teach chemistry, I typically only teach students once during their high school career.
Due to school funding and resources, many of my students have little science lab experience. When they get to my class, typically their Junior year, they are extremely inquisitive, and ready to apply their scientific knowledge into the science lab. In my class, I try and apply what we are learning into the lab, meaning that we have a lab multiple times per week.
My Project
Chemistry is a unique science in which students often struggle because they have to visualize many of the topics that we talk about. Unlike Earth Science or Biology which deals with large scale ecosystems or animals, chemistry deals with substances at a molecular level.
Having an iPad in class would allow students to use and view simulations to help them visualize chemistry. There are a plethora of applications that could be used to enhance student learning in chemistry. For example, Periodic table applications provide an interactive periodic table, and simulations for mixing different chemicals, many of which the school cannot afford.
There are also applications that allow students to practice drawing diagrams. Instead of traditional paper and pencil models, the students can actually move electrons together to create bonds.
I hope that by having this technology in the classroom it will prepare my students for college and help to give them a strong foundation in a subject that many students struggle with.
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