Think of the letters of the alphabet ranging from H to P. You just sang the alphabet song in your head, didn’t you? Did you realize that the alphabet melody you just sang was borrowed from "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” which, in turn, borrowed it from an earlier piece by Mozart, thus making the alphabet song one of the oldest educational song parodies in use today? Song lyrics have long been known to researchers in the field of education as a highly effective medium for conveying material to students in an interactive and memorable fashion. A chemistry outreach video called “Chemists Know,” a parody of Disney’s blockbuster hit “Let it Go,” was recently created. The video pairs the familiar melody with lyrics describing a wide variety of physical phenomena, both inside and outside of the laboratory setting, that can be understood through the framework of chemistry. With over 307,000 views on Youtube, the video has been used by chemistry educators as a motivational tool for inspiring interest and excitement in chemistry. Building on the success of ‘Chemists Know’, a series of physical science educational outreach videos called “Shredded Science” was also created. The series lies somewhere between Bill Nye the Science Guy and School House Rock, in that a combination of song lyrics, computer animations, and physical demonstrations are used to present entertaining lessons in physical chemistry. The series is accessible via Youtube, and is intended to be incorporated into active learning classroom environments, thus providing the instructor with engaging content that can be used in the classroom as a starting point for discussions, or shared electronically for flipped or hybrid course formats. As many popular science shows tend to shy away from more mathematically-intensive topics, the focus of this series is to fill that niche. Filming for the first installment of the series was recently completed, and includes lessons on the first, second, and third law of thermodynamics presented in conjunction with a song parody music video called “Thermodynamics (Makes the Macro World Go ‘Round).” The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd law are all summarized within the lyrics of the song parody, providing students with a memorable and engaging way to learn the overarching principles, while the finer points are discussed within the three video lessons. Clips from the videos will be presented, along with recommendations for implementing them into student-centered active learning activities.

From chemists know to shredded science: Using accessible online outreach videos to ignite interest in and aid understanding of chemical concepts

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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