How can you do an experiment? With a smile on your face! Here’s how: (Updated 10-13-22)
- Lab Safety: Before you can do anything experimentally-oriented in a chemistry class, you need to learn how to keep from hurting yourself in the lab. Spoiler alert: It involves goggles.
- Lab equipment: What’s all that stuff in the lab? Find out here!
- Lab equipment ppt: I’ve got a terrible secret: Not all of the equipment your teacber tells you about will actually be used in your labs. Here’s a PowerPoint guide to the equipment that you’re most likely to actually use. (Note to other educators: C’mon, you know I’m right).
- Scientific method: How do scientists make discoveries? It depends. How do chemistry classes tell you that scientists make discoveries? With the scientific method. Learn how it works here!
- Scientific Method PPT: This is a bit different and probably easier to understand than the tutorial above.
- Percent yield – error PPT: What is percent yield? What is experimental error? Find out before you get too far with this chemistry stuff.
- Properties of matter PPT: I honestly had no idea where else to put it, so here’s this PowerPoint. I hope you find it OK.
- Elements, compounds, and mixtures PowerPoint: Let’s look at some simple things to get started!
- How to win science fair: Be the envy of your nerdy friends and win a trip to somewhere obscure by winning the science fair! Or, if you’d rather just survive the whole experience, this will work for that, too.
- An introduction to chemistry: The first chapter of the chemistry textbook (and textbook parody) that I never actually published. Discusses the topics above, but is more in depth and funnier, too.
Supplemental videos: These videos are all over at the amazing Crash Course YouTube channel. I didn’t make these, though I wish I did.
- Crash Course Chemistry: Lab Techniques and Safety – I’m a very big fan of safety, and this video really covers some of the important topics you don’t hear about in many chemistry courses.
- The times and troubles of the scientific method: The scientific method isn’t perfect. Find out why.
- 3 chemistry experiments that changed the world: Believe it or not, we chemists have done some really cool stuff!