Poly Student Ambassador Blog: Enriched Chemistry With Sabrina Z.
Welcome to the Poly Student Ambassador Blog! Here you can read about various topics: classes, athletics, clubs, arts programming, and more. Follow along as our Upper School students fill you in on their daily lives at Poly. Have more questions for a student blogger? Email us here. Our bloggers are eager to share everything that they love about our school!
By Sabrina Z. '23
Last year, Poly transformed the traditional AP Chemistry class into Poly Enriched Chemistry, a course created for students to develop a deeper connection with chemistry. Science department head Mrs. Robin Barnes said, “In Poly Enriched Chemistry, students are able to observe scientific phenomena and think about scientific processes and skills more organically than in an AP Chemistry course. In AP chemistry, there’s not really enough time for students to develop understandings of scientific processes and skills.”
Rather than being told how to conduct scientific experiments, we’re given the opportunity to apply basic skills in hands-on projects. Because of the course’s focus on students and forming a relationship with chemistry, my interest in chemistry has developed beyond the purpose of passing tests. On the right, you’ll find an informative Molarity and Dilution video which shows how students organically develop scientific skills. Despite the tiring new normal of Zoom lessons, Mrs. Barnes’ projects, labs, and demos increase my engagement in the course. The “how-to” video allowed me to practice accurately conducting a scientific experiment, use chemistry-related language, and really test myself if I knew the content. I retained the information from that chapter far more than your traditional paper and pencil test, and I definitely enjoyed the break from my screen.
Poly Enriched Chemistry is a class where there’s enough time and space for in depth learning. We just started our acids and bases chapter with a Pivot Interactives lab, and I think the way we are able to draw our own connections and conclusions before being given more textbook information creates an opportunity for us to dive deeper into chemistry.
What’s even more impressive is that Mrs. Barnes and other teachers have sent home “lab kits'' with home-friendly materials that can simulate the experiments we would conduct in a normal year. I’ve gotten to observe how Copper (II) sulfate pentahydrate reacts in sunlight and apply mathematical skills to manipulate the amount of gas produced in simple reactions such as mixing baking soda with vinegar.
Mrs. Barnes shared that, “Some science teachers have completely flipped their classrooms so that in what would’ve been more of a lecture, students are reading independently and class time is more the application of new knowledge.” During Poly’s “Flex School Wednesdays” where the day is dedicated to clubs, assemblies, student collaboration, and extra help time, I often schedule meetings with Mrs. Barnes for clarification on the lesson plan. Not only does she answer all my endless “why,” “what,” and “how” questions, but Mrs. Barnes also films videos after class working out stoichiometry problems or reviewing complex concepts that couldn’t be explained during class time.
Even over the course of a few months on a virtual platform, Poly Enriched Chemistry has become one of my favorite classes!
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By Sabrina Z. '23
Last year, Poly transformed the traditional AP Chemistry class into Poly Enriched Chemistry, a course created for students to develop a deeper connection with chemistry. Science department head Mrs. Robin Barnes said, “In Poly Enriched Chemistry, students are able to observe scientific phenomena and think about scientific processes and skills more organically than in an AP Chemistry course. In AP chemistry, there’s not really enough time for students to develop understandings of scientific processes and skills.”
Rather than being told how to conduct scientific experiments, we’re given the opportunity to apply basic skills in hands-on projects. Because of the course’s focus on students and forming a relationship with chemistry, my interest in chemistry has developed beyond the purpose of passing tests. On the right, you’ll find an informative Molarity and Dilution video which shows how students organically develop scientific skills. Despite the tiring new normal of Zoom lessons, Mrs. Barnes’ projects, labs, and demos increase my engagement in the course. The “how-to” video allowed me to practice accurately conducting a scientific experiment, use chemistry-related language, and really test myself if I knew the content. I retained the information from that chapter far more than your traditional paper and pencil test, and I definitely enjoyed the break from my screen.
Poly Enriched Chemistry is a class where there’s enough time and space for in depth learning. We just started our acids and bases chapter with a Pivot Interactives lab, and I think the way we are able to draw our own connections and conclusions before being given more textbook information creates an opportunity for us to dive deeper into chemistry.
What’s even more impressive is that Mrs. Barnes and other teachers have sent home “lab kits'' with home-friendly materials that can simulate the experiments we would conduct in a normal year. I’ve gotten to observe how Copper (II) sulfate pentahydrate reacts in sunlight and apply mathematical skills to manipulate the amount of gas produced in simple reactions such as mixing baking soda with vinegar.
Mrs. Barnes shared that, “Some science teachers have completely flipped their classrooms so that in what would’ve been more of a lecture, students are reading independently and class time is more the application of new knowledge.” During Poly’s “Flex School Wednesdays” where the day is dedicated to clubs, assemblies, student collaboration, and extra help time, I often schedule meetings with Mrs. Barnes for clarification on the lesson plan. Not only does she answer all my endless “why,” “what,” and “how” questions, but Mrs. Barnes also films videos after class working out stoichiometry problems or reviewing complex concepts that couldn’t be explained during class time.
Even over the course of a few months on a virtual platform, Poly Enriched Chemistry has become one of my favorite classes!
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