Big Idea #1 Reflection: Structure

A list of the objectives (1-16) you really understand. Include 1-2 paragraphs that details why. Do not make a reflection for each objective. Simply make one general reflection for all.

I understood all of the stoichiometry objectives since they were simply review of what I did last year in chemistry. They seemed pretty easy once I remembered what I was doing and didn’t present a problem for me. From our most recent cycle, all the material made sense to me as this seemed like the easiest cycle so far this year. The constant mass calculations were basic and very similar to stoich which made it seem easy or even easier than it already seemed.

Looking back to the previous cycles, I remember Coulomb's Law and periodicity making sense to me after a bit of review. This along with the types of types of bonds didn’t initially make too much sense but after going through my material, the process of completing these problems no longer were as difficult since I got the hang of it.

A list of the objectives (1-16) you still struggle with. Include 1-2 paragraphs that details why. Do not make a reflection for each objective. Simply make one general reflection for all.

I understand the majority of problems but some of the VSEPR and bonding structures confuse me from time to time. Otherwise, most problems are good to go except ones that are over-the-top. For example, finding the lewis structure of something ridiculously difficult or one dealing with compounds that are rarely or never used. Having more of these problems show up in the second quarter should definitely patch up any confusion.

My Biggest Bubble

Cycle D- Practice Set (Mass Structure)

• At least a paragraph reflection that describes the types of problems you really understood and why.  Give at least one example.
• I really understood the Lewis Structures and finding the type of compounds based on the information given. Using the “percent to mass, mass to mole, divide by smallest, multiply to whole” strategy, the problems seemed fairly basic to me. For example, a question would be to find the compound formula for a hydrocarbon given 55% of it being carbon and the rest being hydrogen.
• At least a paragraph reflection that describes the types of problems you struggled with and why. Give at least one example.
• Defining the term asymmetric seemed to be the most difficult task if any. This cycle seemed pretty simple and there weren’t any aspects where I had major or even minor problems.
• At least one picture of something you did in class during the week with a description of the picture.
• This pictures shows a lab we did in class where we had to determine the number of moles of water molecules in epson salt.

Cycle C - Practice Set (Lewis Structure)

• At least a paragraph reflection that describes the types of problems you really understood and why.  Give at least one example.
• I understood bond order and how to solve for them. For example, I could solve for the bond order for the molecule O3 (ozone). The Lewis structure of sulfur trioxide and any other molecule seemed easy to find. Basically, anything having to do with Lewis diagrams seems easy to me for the time being. In addition, the resonance structres and formal charges made sense to me.
• At least a paragraph reflection that describes the types of problems you struggled with and why. Give at least one example.
• The problem about the tetrahedral structure confused me since I didn’t know what it was and how to approach it. Some of the dipole moment and finding the largest/smallest one was difficult. Determining the geometry of each molecule was challenging along with hybridization. (Ex: Describing the hybridization of carbon in a carbonate ion)
• At least one picture of something you did in class during the week with a description of the picture.
• Below is a picture of our Chromatography lab on the Explore day. It shows the different colors on the piece of paper we put into the water. As seen in the picture, the blue dye has a slight edge over the orange and red dye.

Cycle B Quiz - Bonding Structure

• At least one paragraph that reflects on how you prepared for the quiz.
• In order to prepare for the quiz, I once again reviewed the notes I had taken from the Lesson video and rewatched the video.  I also looked at the Practice Quiz again and watched the video where Mr. Musallam went through each problem.
• At least one paragraph that reflects on how you felt during the quiz. What did you understand? What did you struggle with?
• I felt pretty confident during the quiz and felt that I knew what I was doing. Some parts were a bit confusing and stumped me. Having Mr. Musallam not be in class made it impossible to ask him a question if I didn't understand a specific question. the last question for Metallic Bonding was definitely the hardest but I had a general idea of what was happening.
• At least one paragraph that describes a few things you will do differently in preparing for our next quiz. If what you did this time completely worked for you, clearly describe your strategy.
• Next time, I will visit Mr. Musallam before the quiz and ask him any questions I may have. My mistake this time was not finding time in my schedule to do this which made it difficult a bit more difficult on my end. Possibly doing a few more extra practice problems wouldn't hurt.