Aaron Sams and TED-Ed

How to Speed UP Chemical Reactions (and Get a Date)

About the speaker

Aaron Sams is a chemistry teacher and teaching innovator. He co-developed the idea of ‘flipped classrooms’ where traditional ‘lecturing’ is delivered outside the classroom, (often through online videos), while activities usually seen as homework are undertaken in the classroom under the guidance of a mentor. In 2009, Sams received Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching.

 The big issue

In this endearing talk, Aaron Sams shows the striking similarities between speeding up chemical reactions and getting a date for the school dance. When two students, both late for their next class, bump into each other in the hall, little can they know that this action gives insights into 5 ways of making chemical reactions work faster. Aaron Sams takes us into a world of matchmaking catalysts and shrinking hallways to de-mystify both chemistry and love.

Read the book

Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day

In this paradigm-shifting book, Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergmann turn school upside down. After noticing that students least need their teachers for traditional classroom activities such as listening to a lecture or reviewing content, but most need their teachers’ advice and knowledge when tackling projects and assignments which are traditionally done at home, Sams and Bergmann developed the idea of the ‘flipped classroom’. This book shows how flipping education gets the most out of students and teachers alike.

Project scrapbook