How To Use This Website

This website is intended as a teacher and student tool. It is designed to be used in parts, followed exactly, or for whatever purpose you dream up on your own, but most of all it is meant to be explored. We invite you to take a few minutes to look at the wide variety of molecules in the database.

Use the different forms of the database and search for molecules using the different criteria found on the left side of the screen.

Read the description of the methods that were used to collect the data, try to see the database as your students would, and attempt to apply the lesson ideas to your specific classroom needs. In the process of designing this site, we thought of lots of cool ideas for how to use the website, but the best feature we've discovered so far is that the uses of this site are limited only by the imagination of those exploring it.

The teaching style we are trying to promote by making experimental data available to the public is what we call "data-driven." This term reflects our preferred approach to teaching which closely resembles the scientific method (the method that was used to develop the theories being taught in the first place) rather than teaching the concepts first and then explaining using data or trends. Data driven learning allows the student to "play the scientist" and gain a better understanding of what is involved in making scientific discoveries. We feel that it is important for students to develop this insight to the scientific community early on, because it is a lesson that can be applied to the students' life, whether or not the students go on to become scientists or not. After all, everyone's life is affected by science in the form of current events, medicine and new contraptions that are advertised on television. Students who have a good understanding of experimental science will be more well-rounded adults and be equipped to make wiser decisions throughout their life.