Resources

Compiled by Yasmin Jayathirtha

Books

Classic Chemistry Demonstrations
Compiled by Ted Lister and published by Royal Society of Chemistry 1998
A collection of 100 demonstrations, categorised into entertainment, pre-16, post-16 and subject headings.
Will be available at The British Library

Chemistry Experiments for Children
Virginia L. Mullin;Dover Publications 1968
A classic with do-able experiments
I picked my copy at a second hand book store

Experiments Without Explosions
O.M. Olgin; Mir Publishers, Moscow, 1988
Available wherever Russian books are sold. Has very detailed interesting experiments

100 Science Puzzles
Jane Young and Colin McCarty; Unwin Hyman Ltd London 1989
Will be available at The British Library. Has interesting puzzles which are good for topic revision

Microscale Chemistry
Compiled by John Skinner and published by The Royal Society of Chemistry 1997.
Available at The British Library. Makes a good introduction to microscale chemistry.

Teaching Secondary Chemistry
Edited by Bob McDuell; John Murray 2000
This book gives ideas of experiments and teaching plans and resources. There are companion books for physics and biology.

There are many more books that have experiments to do at home. Many American and British text books have colourful illustrations and will provide a good introduction to various topics. I gather and write down interesting experiments and problems to use in the class room. Old books have a lot of detail not available in the newer ones.

On-line resources

Taking Science to Schools: Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K-8

Richard A. Duochl, Heidi A. Schweingruber and Andrew W. Shouse Editors National Academies Press 2007
Available at http://www.nap.edu
This is an interesting read on the pedagogy of science. It gathers together the latest ideas on how children learn and what science is. The website also has other books downloadable for free.

The Periodic Table of Videos; University of Nottingham
www.periodicvideos.com
Has short (1-3 minutes) videos on elements with rather spectacular demonstrations.

Arvind Gupta’s website
www.arvindguptatoys.com
Has interesting and easy to make demonstration instruments. While not specifically chemistry oriented, I have found material for demonstrating Boyle’s Law and how to make a spectroscope.