Chemistry: The Complete Course--Density

What do you think of when you hear the word "density?" Hopefully, not the average chemistry student's brain! Fortunately, the chemistry cavalry has arrived with Chemistry: The Complete Course, a 30-volume video-classroom series designed to be used in a tutorial or remedial capacity, or even as a quick review for a science teacher. The host, award-winning chemistry teacher Frank Cardulla, bases his teaching on the philosophy that if scientific concepts cannot be translated into real world examples and applications, and be felt on a "gut level," then all the theory in the world will not help. In the fourth volume in the series, Density, instead of talking about the subject in jargon-laden terms, Cardulla relies on object lessons. For example, to convey the sense of a "gram," he uses a common item as a five-gram weight, and urges students to practice guesstimating the weight of other everyday objects--based on that nickel in their hands. When talking about solving word problems, he encourages students to use simple solution methods that demonstrate an understanding of a concept, rather than blindly plugging numbers into formulas. Yes, it's a half-hour of a talking head with a flip chart, but it's well-shot and well-taught, and much more interesting than you'd expect. Other titles in the series include: Quantitative Reasoning in Life and Chemistry, Converting Between Systems of Measurement, The Mole Concept, Introduction to Stoichiometry, Basic Concepts of Chemical Equilibrium and The Self-Ionization of Water. Aud: H, C, P. (E. Gieschen)