Classroom Tools

ILAB Classroom Tools

Tactile Chemistry

Tactile strategies for teaching chemistry to students who are blind and visually impaired have been developed by Dr. Lillian A. Rankel, Hopewell Valley Central High School, Hopewell Valley, NJ 08534.

A Tactile Adaptation Kit, containing many of the materials described below is available from MDW Educational Services. For information about the Tactile Adaptation Kit, email MDWEducationalServices@gmail.com. Click here to download a flyer on the Tactile Adaptation Kit.

Supplies for Tactile Chemistry

All these activities use low cost materials that can be purchased from craft stores, toy stores, or office supply stores:

Table 1. Magnetic Board Materials

Item	Represents	Number	Dimensions
Magnetic dry erase writing board			28 x 36 cm or 41 x 51 cm
Peel & stick business card magnets	Magnetic base for foam symbols	10	5 x 9 cm
Glitter or sparkle peel and stick foam for the metals	_ electrons Li, K, Na, Mg, Ca, Al, Zn	40 electrons 2 of each	1.0 x 0.5cm 3 cm high
Smooth peel and stick foam (2mm thick peel and stick) for the nonmetals	_ electrons F, Cl, Br, I, O, N, P, S & X(all others)	40 electrons 2 of each	1.0 x 0.5cm 3 x 3 cm
Peel and stick magnetic sheet 1 ft. x 2 ft.	Make lines, larger shapes, and cut out letters
Playskool magnetic letters and numbers	Formulas, elements, and numeric values	2 boxes letters & two of numbers
Hot glue gun and glue	Write large letters and numbers
Round 1.3 in. diameter bulletin board magnets	Carbon atoms	10 magnets

Teaching Formulas and Manipulation of Formulas

Use a Chemistry Stencil to Make Magnetic Lab Equipment

Lewis Dot Structures and Valence Electrons

Ionic Bonding

Structures for Organic Compounds

Showing 3-D Organic Structures

Aufbau Diagrams

Tactile Equipment Models

Some of the materials presented here are based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grants HRD-0435656 and HRD-0726417. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.