Computerized Chemistry Lab

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Deborah J. Boyd on August 11, 2010 at 8:22am

Hi Desmond, I am in Arlington, Va. (DC suburb) and you brought up a subject that I have wanted to happen for over 15 years. Online Education has eliminated Chemistry and all other laboratory courses from the beginning. I would like to make the case that we could impart the same wisdom online by videographing an experiment. I do not think there is that much value in "hands on" experience. Does everyone really need to dissect a poor little frog in order to see what the parts look like. We can get the same experience through a virtual process that can be repeated eternally while only sacrificing one frog.
So you will not find an online chemistry lab. I will tell you that you can become a millionaire should you decide to do one. What you need to do is set out a plan and show how much revenue would be derived from the investment. There is a huge market for this all over the world. Once the virtual experiment is done, translation into other languages is simple.
peaceby2027@gmail.com

Permalink Reply by Dennis Pack on August 11, 2010 at 11:00am

HI desmond,

I haven't found a complete online Chemistry lab, but I did find a couple sites that are very handy. And, they are either free or not very expensive.

The Molecular Workbench has many good simulations for all areas of science. I found the students really benefited from being able to visualize on a molecular scale. http://mw.concord.org/modeler/

Gizmos was also useful, though some exercises are a bit long a repetitive. The free trial will give you a good idea of how they work. http://www.explorelearning.com/

This site has links to many different simulations that could be useful. I haven't checked them all out ... worth a look. http://cse.edc.org/products/simulations/catalog.asp

Lastly, there are many good videos on TeacherTube.com. The videos of dangerous reactions (like Li + water) are very useful. I found downloading them at home helped bypass school website restrictions and intranet failures.

Hope that helps ...

Cheers
Dennis Pack

Permalink Reply by Shawn Kibel on September 22, 2010 at 5:00pm

Dennis,

Thank you for posting those links. I co-host an edu-tech podcast. A regular feature is the teacher tip of the week. You gave me some gems I haven't seen before. Great stuff!

-Shawn Kibel

Permalink Reply by Desmond A. Hasty on September 23, 2010 at 6:36am

Sounds great Dennis! Thank you so much. I will check them out and forward them to my Science department.

Desmond

Permalink Reply by Sheri Starks on May 25, 2012 at 3:00pm

I love thePhET simulations. I have my chemistry and physics students do these when a real lab isn't safe or affordable for the school. They also come with worksheets and student materials so they are super easy to use.

Permalink Reply by Desmond A. Hasty on August 1, 2012 at 10:34am

Thanks Sheri. I'll check this out and see if my colleagues like it. Sorry for the delay.