This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This material reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This material reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein
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TEACHING RESOURCES INFORMATION
Comments about this Publication
Date: 2014.07.31
Posted by Paula Matos (Portugal)
Message: The software installation is quite simple. A prior registration on the website is needed and, after that, it’s possible to download the software. Guidelines to make its installation, however, are not straightforward, but anyone used to downloading software or internet applications can do it intuitively.
This software is very useful and can be used either at the secondary level or at the university. It is very helpful to reinforce the concept of the number of chemical bonds that atoms can form, because the application corrects the user attempts to exceed this number. On the other hand, it also adjusts the chemical bonds as the user adds functional groups or atoms.
The free version offers plenty of options, allowing users to take advantage of this great tool.
It can be used by both students and teachers. Teachers can apply it in various ways: in the classroom on a whiteboard or in the preparation of worksheets or power point presentations. Students can use it in laboratory reports or in their general study.
Date: 2014.03.19
Posted by Christodoulos Makedonas (Greece)
Message: ACD ChemSketch is a drawing package software produced and distributed by ACDLabs. There are two versions available a commercial and a free one. The freeware version allows the drawing of chemical structures including organics, organometallics, polymers, and Markush structures. It also includes features such as calculation of molecular properties (e.g., molecular weight, density, molar refractivity etc.), 2D and 3D structure cleaning and viewing, functionality for naming structures (fewer than 50 atoms and 3 rings), and prediction of logP.
The software is very user friendly and can be employed in any level of teaching for the drawing of any kind of organic molecules, from the simple alkanes to the more elaborate biomolecules, e.g. carbohydrates. As a helping tool for this purpose, it contains templates of several types of molecules. Moreover, it can be easily used for the production of chemical equations of any difficulty up to catalytic cycles, for the drawing of orbital interaction schemes and for the preparation of laboratory manual, since there are also templates for lab equipment and instruments.
It is a valuable companion in teaching IUPAC nomenclature and stereochemistry and can be easily employed for the production of teaching material, since the drawings, to the best of my knowledge, are easily pasted to any kind of document, such as word processor or presentation.
Date: 2012.09.28
Posted by HRISTO KOLEV (bulgaria)
Message: THE CHEMSKECH SOFTWARE IS A PROGRAM GENERALLY USED FOR DRAWING STRUCTURES AND OTHER IMAGES TO BE USED IN POWER POINT PRESENTATIONS OR TEXT MATERIALS SUCH AS TESTS AND EXAMS. IT IS A VERY EASY TO USE AN USER FRIENDLY SOFTWARE THAT CAN BE USED BOTH BY STUDENTS AND TEACHERS. THE PROGRAM ALLOWS A VERY QUICK AND EASY WAY TO GENERATE A STRUCTURE AND BECAUSE IT IS COMPATIBLE WITH THE WIDELY USED MICROSOFT OFFICE THE GENERATED MATERIAL CAN EASILY BE PASTED INTO ANOTHER DOCUMENT WITHOUT THE NEED TO EXPORT IT IN ANOTHER FORMAT OR IMAGE. IT ALLOWS ALL THE BASIC FUNCTIONS OF PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMS USED TODAY BUT IT IS NOT SO EXPERIENCE-DEMANDING. ALLOWING A FREE DOWNLOAD OF A DEMO VERSION MAKES IT ACCESSIBLE FOR MANY SCHOOLS AND OTHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. USING THAT FREE DOWNLOAD VERSION ALLOWS A PERSON TO DO A WIDE ARRANGE OF STRUCTURE GENERATING AND MANIPULATION AS WELL AS BASIC PROPERTY CALCULATIONS AND IUPAC NAME GENERATING. IT CONTAINS A HUGE ARRANGE OF USEFUL PREDRAWN STRUCTURES AND IMAGES THAT ARE THERE TO BE PASTED JUST ABOUT ANYWHERE. SOME OF THEM ARE MOLECULAR ORBITALS, NEWMAN PROJECTIONS, COMPLEXED MOLECULES LIKE MONO- AND DISACCHARIDES AND NUCLEOTIDES. THERE IS A PRESET OF FUNCTIONAL GROUPS AS WELL THAT ALLOWS ORGANIC MOLECULES TO BE DRAWN EASILY. THERE IS A WIDE ARRANGE OF ADDITIONAL SYMBOLS THAT CAN BE USED TO CONSTRUCT EQUATIONS AND REACTION SCHEMES VERY QUICKLY. A LAB KIT IS AVAILABLE IF CONSTRUCTING A SKETCH OF AN APPARATUS IS NEEDED. THE 3D VIEWER ALSO AVAILABLE IN THE FREE DEMO VERSION IS EXTREMELY USEFUL IN TEACHING A WIDE ARRANGE OF TOPICS RANGING FROM WAN DER WAALS FORCES TO BOND ANGLES AND BOND ENERGY AS IT ALLOWS ONE TO MEASURE DISTANCES AND ANGLES FOR HIMSELF. A GOOD VISUAL AID OF THE MOLECULES FROM ALL ANGLES IS CRUCIAL FOR TEACHING ORGANIC CHEMISTRY AND ESPECIALLY FOR SN1 AND SN2 MECHANISM AS WELL AS A RANGE OF OTHER ADVANCED SITESPECIFIC REACTION MECHANISMS.
IN CONCLUSION THE SOFTWARE IS EXTREMELY USEFUL AND EASY TO USE TOOL FOR CONSTRUCTING JUST ABOUT ANYTHING ONE MAY NEED AS A VISUAL AID IN TEACHING CHEMISTRY.
National Reports on successful experiences to promote lifelong learning for chemistry The national reports on chemistry successful experiences to promote lifelong learning for chemistry are now available on the related section of the project portal. The reports presents examples of successful experiences in the partner countries and the results of testing of ICT resources with science teachers.
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