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The first few days back to school can be daunting for both students and teachers. Chemistry has the added stress of being potentially dangerous. I like to spend the first couple of days getting my students acclimated to me, my classroom, and the lab before we jump into the content.
Many of my colleagues like to start day 1 with their expectations to present a strict classroom environment. That’s just not me. I like to make my students comfortable and let them know that I’m here for them. Chemistry is tough, but they can do it!
I rely on my personal relationships with students for classroom management. If I didn’t take the time at the beginning of the year to get to know them then I wouldn’t be able to rely on those relationships.
To learn more about how I set up my classroom to reduce student overwhelm, check out this blog post
Intro Chemistry Lesson Plans
Total Duration: (5-8 days)
Note: a day refers to 45-50 minute periods.
| Topic & Timeline | Tasks | Description |
| Welcome 1-2 days | Introduction Inquiry Activity First Day Activity | I like to start off the year by introducing myself and having my students introduce themselves. I do not play a name game, instead, I have my students say their name out loud during roll call, that way everyone can hear their name pronounced correctly. Then I have my students look around the room and make some inferences about me and my class. We discuss what the year will be like and I give them a little bit of information about me. Lastly, we do some sort of “first day of school” activity. I change this up every year. Last year I had my students make a personalized pennant that hung up in my room. The year before we had a snowball fight. Just something to get rid of those first-day jitters! |
| Logistics 1-2 days | Syllabus Lab Safety Contract Misc. | Yep, my students don’t get a syllabus until day 2. I point out important pieces of information, like my expectations and required materials. I use the Flinn Safety Contract. I give them around 5 days to turn it in, but encourage them to get it in ASAP, as we’ll be in the lab tomorrow. This day is REALLY open on purpose. My school usually has class meetings the first two days, so whatever we don’t get to on day 1 I can move to day 2.I like having coloring pages or color-by-number worksheets as a backup. It provides a nice break and allows me to move around from group to group, getting to know my students a little more. Here are some I’ve used before: Growth Mindset Scientific Method Lab Safety Rules Lab Equipment Experimental Design |
| Intro to the Lab 1-2 days | Lab Stations | This past year my colleagues and I designed a lab station activity to introduce our students back to the lab space. Station 1: Lab safety– discussion with a teacher or lab assistant about lab expectations Station 2: Liquid Volume – students fill a test tube with water, estimate the volume, then determine the real volume with a graduated cylinder Station 3: Thermometers – students practice using a thermometer to determine the temperature of tap water and the temperature change of a reaction Station 4: Lab Layout – students draw the layout of the lab space and include all safety equipment Station 5: Common Equipment– students sketched the common equipment and recorded what they thought it was used for. We discussed this later during our post-lab discussion. Station 6: Lab Safety Video– we had laptops set up where students could watch a short clip and record the three basic rules of the lab. We used ASAP Science’s Lab Rules. |
| Lab Rules1 day | Post-Lab Discussion Branches of Chemistry | As a class, we discuss what we learned in each station. I usually have a slide for each station and have students shout out the most important information. I also introduce the branches of chemistry here. I usually project an image of each branch and have the students guess what these chemists study. It can be pretty entertaining! |
| Assessment1 day | I like to give a short quiz about lab safety rules as well as equipment. After this mini-unit, I expect my students to understand and follow all lab safety procedures and to know the names of all of the lab equipment we use. I’ve never had anyone fail this quiz, but if you do, I suggest not allowing a student to participate in lab until they can pass. If a parent complains about this, let them know it’s not personal- you have to protect the safety of all of your students. If a student can’t be safe, they can’t be in the lab jeopardizing the safety of others. |
