Episode 32: What Chemicals Do You Really Need in Your Chemistry Classroom?
Episode 32: What Chemicals Do You Really Need in Your Chemistry Classroom?
If you’re a new chemistry teacher staring at your chemical storage room wondering, “What do I actually need?” — this episode is for you.
Over 19 years of teaching chemistry, I’ve learned that you don’t need every chemical in the catalog to create meaningful, hands-on experiences for your students. What you need are versatile chemicals that can be used across multiple units and labs.
In this episode, I’m walking you through the chemicals I find most useful for teaching everything from acids and bases to chemical reactions, stoichiometry, solutions, and atomic structure. I’ll also share some inexpensive grocery-store alternatives you can use when your lab budget is tight — plus the five chemicals I would prioritize if I had to start from scratch.
🧪 In This Episode, You’ll Learn
- Which chemicals can be used across multiple chemistry units
- My go-to chemicals for acids, bases, reactions, precipitation, solutions, stoichiometry, and flame tests
- Why I love magnesium ribbon so much that it gets a chef’s kiss 💋
- How everyday materials like vinegar, baking soda, Alka-Seltzer, sugar, salt, oil, and dish soap can support meaningful chemistry investigations
- Why buying every chemical you might use isn't necessarily the best way to spend your lab budget
- How to gradually build a chemistry stockroom around the labs you actually teach
🔬 Labs & Activities Mentioned
Throughout the episode, I share ways these chemicals can be used for:
- Acid-base indicators and pH testing Neutralization and titration
- Physical and chemical changes
- Single and doublereplacement reactions
- Precipitation and solubility investigations
- Gas production and catalyst demonstrations
- Flame tests and atomic emission spectra
- Solution preparation and serial dilution
- Limiting reactants and stoichiometry
- Conservation of mass
- Density and polarity
- Reaction-rate inquiry labs
And remember — you don’t necessarily need specialized laboratory chemicals for every one of these experiences. Some great chemistry can happen with materials from the grocery store!
⭐ If I Could Only Buy Five Chemicals... If I were building a chemistry stockroom and had to prioritize just five, I would choose:
- Hydrochloric acid
- Sodium hydroxide
- Copper(II) sulfate
- Magnesium ribbon
- Calcium chloride
These give you lots of flexibility across different units and can support a surprising number of labs and demonstrations throughout the year. Of course, always follow your school or district's chemical purchasing, storage, handling, and disposal requirements and the appropriate SDS information.
🛒 Chemistry on a Budget
Don't have a fully stocked chemical storage room yet? That's okay. Vinegar, baking soda, Alka-Seltzer, hydrogen peroxide, sugar, salt, corn syrup, vegetable oil, and dish soap can give students hands-on experiences with acids and bases, reaction rates, gas production, density, solutions, polarity, conductivity, and physical and chemical changes.
Start with the labs you know you'll teach, and build your chemical inventory over time. You don't have to create your dream chemistry lab during your first year.
🚀 Want More Chemistry Teaching Support? If listening to this episode feels a little like sitting down with an experienced chemistry teacher and asking, “Okay...what would you do?” — that’s exactly the kind of support I want to provide through Catalyst Coaching. Catalyst Coaching is my small-group coaching program for chemistry teachers who want help making decisions about content, labs, activities, assessments, and the everyday realities of teaching chemistry. We’ll work together to help you build a chemistry classroom that feels more manageable — and help you become more confident in the decisions you're making throughout the school year. Catalyst Coaching begins September 21st.
💬 Let’s Connect
Have a chemical that would absolutely make your top-five list? I want to hear it!
Come share it with me and connect with other chemistry teachers in The Confident Chemistry Teacher Facebook Group.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/767528946010479
You can also find more chemistry teaching resources in my TPT store: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/chems-chemistry-classroom
🎧 Love the Podcast? If The Confident Chemistry Teacher Podcast is making your chemistry-teaching life a little easier, I’d love for you to follow the show, leave a review, or share this episode with another chemistry teacher. Every share helps more chemistry teachers find the support they need.
Until next time — keep experimenting, keep inspiring, and keep being awesome in your classroom. Happy teaching!