There are many abstract concepts in chemistry that are difficult for beginning students. We are actively creating tools to help students visualize and understand those ideas. Whether memorization of ion flash cards or manipulating ions that stick together, we search and experiment to find the quickest and easiest way to help students learn.

Crystal Structure Kit

Crystal structure and shape as determined often by x-ray crystallography has been crucial in biology, chemistry, and physics. Example discoveries include the double helix of DNA by Watson, Crick, and Franklin, the alpha helix and beta-sheet of proteins by Pauling, Corey, and Branson, and many more.

Many students, however, have real difficulty visualizing and understanding those 3-D structures.

The Crystal Structure Kit when available will allow students to build models of the different types of crystals and even grow some of them. It will also include an introduction to x-ray crystallography for the advanced student.

For more information click here: Crystal Structure Kit

Ion Flash Cards

Understanding ionic compounds is a very important part of general chemistry, yet many students struggle with it because they didn't learn the names, symbols, and charges of most of the ions. That makes it nearly impossible to get the ionic compound formulas right.

It would be like trying speak in a foreign language when you don't know the words. To succeed in chemistry, one has to learn the names, chemical symbols, and charges. Science Glen's Ion Flash Cards will really help.

The Ion Flash Cards have 81 of the most common monatomic and polyatomic ions together with the ion symbol, how the ion is created, the electron configuration, and the VSEPR molecular geometry.

For more information click here: Ion Flash Cards

Ionic Disc Model

Do you or your students have trouble with ionic compound formulas? Why is calcium chloride CaCl₂ instead of CaCl? Why is sodium phosphide Na₃P instead of NaP?

Just by looking at the Ionic Discs, it is obvious that magnesium has a charge of 2+, which means that it needs two electrons to fill those spots. In the case of CaCl₂ that is two chloride ions.

The Ionic Disc Model has been proven to really improve student understanding.

For more information click here: Ionic Disc Model

Electron pair repulsion pushes the hydrogen atoms closer together resulting in a smaller bond angle.

VSEPR Kit

One of the more advanced sections of general chemistry is Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion (VSEPR). It has proven to be a very useful tool to predict the shape of many types of molecules, and that has helped explain chemical reactions and even why water is so good at dissolving polar compounds like sugar or salt.

For more information click here: VSEPR Kit