The Ediger group of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in collaboration with Wisconsin-area high school teachers Michael Lawton and Keith Zeise, has created an assortment of teaching modules that bring the most recent chemical research and innovative ideas from the college classroom to the high school classroom. The modules are each designed to teach a specific concept, and each contains numerous stimulating labs, rigorous student-led scientific experiments, innovative model creation, and relevant application of information. High school teachers from the Milwaukee Public Schools led the development of these lessons, using the philosophy of inquiry-based, constructivist learning, along with the first-hand experience of best teaching practices in an urban district. The expert chemistry knowledge of the Ediger group has imparted the most effective, innovative, current chemical research to these lessons. These lessons have been implemented in the classroom to test their effectiveness. The goal of this collaboration is to provide free, easily performable, inexpensive, engaging, and effective science lessons to the teaching community, and is our hope that students in many schools will benefit from this.
Below is a list of the teaching modules, with summaries, and links to the actual documents. There are currently five modules, and we are planning to add more. Please use any or all parts of them, copy with abandon, alter as desired, and inform others of our work.
Disclaimer: The teacher and school district assume all responsibility for the safe implementation of these activities and usage of all chemicals.
Happy and Sad Bouncy Balls: Heat, Kinetics, and Polymers
click here to download this module
On a Scale of 0 to 10: How your Computer Stores Data using Magnetism
click here to download this module
Plastic Surgery: Changing the Molecular Structure of Polymers
click here to download this module
PDQ PDMS: Molecular Structure’s Relationship to Polymer Properties
click here to download this module
You be Forcin’ It: Intermolecular Forces
click here to download this module
We welcome your feedback and would appreciate any suggestions or links to similar teaching resources to complement and broaden inquiry-based scientific education. Feel free to contact the coauthor of these lessons, and chemistry and biology teacher at Milwaukee Public Schools, Michael Lawton, at lawtonm@milwaukee.k12.wi.us.