Moles - Post Assessment...

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THEY ARE THERE?

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

     I did a quick "post assessment" on moles after we finished with a moles mini lab, a mole POGIL and mole problem of the day's.  It was essentially the same "chained notes" and question that I asked in the pre assessment about moles.  "What is a Mole in chemistry and how is it used?"  I scanned in and tried to upload the evidence but I was having tech issues.  The evidence was convincing.  It was far better POST assessment than PRE that students had a better handle on the concept of moles (used for counting small things, it is a big number, the mass of elements on the periodic table is a mole of a substance...).  They can verbalize the concepts but the math part is a struggle for them.  This tells me to continue with the mole ideas next year but to hit math ideas (factor labeling, proportions, scientific notation and basic operations) early and often.  Hopefully then by the time they get to the concept of moles they will have a better handling of the math.

     Here is a crazy idea for some of my classes...an experiment in biomimicry.  (I did not know what it was either...check out this TED Talk).    Biomimicry is not learning about nature but learning from nature.  An example... a group of waste water treatment people were having a problem with limestone deposits (calcium carbonate) in there pipes.  It was a big problem and hard to remove.  A biologist mentioned that sea shells have been doing this for centuries.  A protein string encourages limestone deposits on the protein from the ocean in a particular pattern.  Another protein stops the deposit, thus creating the seashell.  What if we did the same at waste water treatment plants to control limestone deposit???  In other words, look toward nature and millions of years of evolution for design solutions that solve our own problems. 

     I am going to try the following....I am going to have my students look to nature for a design solution...build a better way to filter and take care of my fish tank.  It should be interesting...I will keep you posted.