Vimeo Science Videos

So Vimeo is kinda interesting. It's a collection of really high quality videos for movie makers to publish their work. I found in the science and technology category, some videos explaining various science concepts in very precise and detailed ways. Some are from people who send in questions then have them answered, such as in the Science Catalyst Live Show - Grade 12 Chemistry. Here is one example of this channel.

The Science Catalyst Live Show:Grade 12 Chemistry from The Science Catalyst on Vimeo.

This one is of an "chemistry" class in middle school in Poland. They are not speaking English so unless you speak Polish you won't be able to understand exactly what they're saying however, the video pretty much speaks for itself. The chemistry they're doing in middle school over there looks way different from the typical middle school in the U.S. These kids look like little professional chemists. The demo they did was very cool!

"Chemistry After Lessons" - Middle School in Cieszyn, Poland from Palo Palacz on Vimeo.

Embedding a YouTube video

YouTube actually has a lot of great science videos that can be used to instruct both teachers and kids. However, many schools block it to prevent kids from accessing inappropriate content. However, my principal had given permission to show YouTube videos that can be used as a learning tool. To do this if I opened the video at home and then brought my lap top to school with the video open, it would play, however you couldn't go to another video and open it. Now they've actually created a log in window that allows the teacher to bypass these blocked sites. One way I have used YouTube for Chemistry is to show lab demonstrations that are not feasible in the high school classroom due to lack of the proper chemicals or the chemicals are not safely handled in a class environment. For example, when we were learning about the properties of the halogen gases I found a good YouTube video that showed the properties of the halogens and their behavior when reacting with hydrogen to produce acids and other metals. There are tons of videos like this.


I also get ideas for Chemistry demos from YouTube. Here is one that I actually did in class when we were studying exothermic reactions. The kids went wild. It was nice to see the result of the chemical reaction and noting safety precautions before trying these out for yourself.