The following activity was developed to allow students to actively participate in and measure the kinetics of a multistep process. Each group of students is given a stack of blank coloring pages, each with a rainbow design printed on it. Each student in a group is given a different color crayon and colors in their portion of the picture before…

Thin-layer chromatography, which involves the movement of dyes along a silica-coated plate, is used to observe the progress of chemical reactions and to separate mixtures. We took advantage of this phenomenon to devise a method for generating patterns in the shape of numbers with dots (dot matrix). We prepared the azo dyes necessary for generating…

Chladni patterns are one of the most fascinating physics demonstrations. They can be produced very easily using commercially available apparatus based on metallic plates attached to a mechanical driver, similar to a loudspeaker without the membrane, and a signal generator. The figures are observed using sand sprinkled on the surface of the plate.…

The laser pointer has been widely used to demonstrate some simple optics phenomena, like reflection, refraction, total reflection, and diffraction. However, the rays of laser light cannot be seen in the air because the scattered light is too weak. Many physics teachers use milk or smoke to visualize rays of laser light in physics labs, but it is…

Student feedback from an undergraduate biochemistry lab course suggested the use of visibly traceable proteins may assist learning. Based on this feedback, we used guided inquiry lab exercises where students developed and characterized a suite of fluorescent protein-dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) fusions as tools for a biochemistry teaching lab.…

During the pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), a paper analytical device (PAD) was proposed as a tool for remote laboratory classes for undergraduate chemistry to teach calibration curve concepts. For this experiment, students were taught how to prepare a PAD, calibrate standard solutions, construct a calibration curve, and treat data…

A new undergraduate inorganic chemistry laboratory experiment is presented. An introduction of the spectrochemical series and ligand exchange is explored using the coordination complex dirhodium tetraacetate, Rh[subscript 2](OAc)[subscript 4]. Students have measured the absorption spectra of the Rh[subscript 2] complex in the presence of various…

The National Research Council's Framework for K-12 Science Education articulates the need to shift science curricula from being a collection of discrete facts to curricula that integrate core ideas and practices. To help teachers better integrate content and to respond to expressed frustration regarding extensive lists of standards often presented…

The activities described here allow students to explore the concept of diffusion with the use of common equipment such as computers, webcams and analysis software. The procedure includes taking a series of digital pictures of a container of water with a webcam as a dye slowly diffuses. At known time points, measurements of the pixel densities…