Context
Students who are starting to learn about chemical bonding and interactions often have trouble visualising the interaction between molecules and its underlying reasons. Through this interactive hands-on simulation, students can better visualise these interactions, which can help them absorb the content better.
Preparation & Flow
Introduction and Warm-up (10 mins)
Teachers recap on concepts relating to structure, bonding, and forces of attraction during the lesson.
Students experiment with Molecular Workbench simulations of H2O, NH3, and CH4, viewing bond angles and interactions between molecules with varying forces of attraction and temperature.
Group Activity: Molecule Choreography (30 mins)
As a group, students can “animate” a dance in Keynote showing how electrons interact to form covalent bonds. After which, they can continue to illustrate how molecules interact under different conditions and environments based on the simulations they have done.
Class Gallery Walk, Wrap-up, and Reflection (20 mins)
Students walk around to critique each group’s work. Students and teachers vote on animations that are the “most creative” and “most accurate”. Teachers reinforce accurate concepts to students.
Possible Extensions
Building on the foundations of VSEPR Theory, we will introduce and explore polarity and intermolecular forces in the next lesson using the same molecules.
From the LearnGrowCreate Team
Main author: Sharon
Attach up to 5 files which will be available for other members to download.