“Learning the three dimensional shapes of molecules can be challenging for students because I am asking them to take a two dimensional representation of something that is too small for them to see and imagine how it would look in three dimensions. I have found a multimodal approach works really well with this topic.

Students had an introductory video for homework prior to class and then today we started class with some molecule shape “yoga” to practice getting our electron groups as far apart as possible. After that, students viewed the shapes in a computer simulation and made their own three dimensional models out of gumdrops and toothpicks. These models will serve as manipulatives in the next lesson as we practice predicting the shapes from Lewis structures.” - Dr. Sarah Lipchock