Ten good video links

1. Nottingham University Periodic Table  . Not just one video – more than 118 of them including at least one for each of the known elements which are continually being updated. Each video clip shows Professor Poliakoff talking about and demonstrating the properties of the element.

2. The reactions of the alkali metals with water. Compare what actually happens when you add an alkali metal to water   and how Brainiac   gets the message across. This raises many interesting TOK points. Look out for the statement, “Only on Brainiac do you get that kind of science” – the perfect let-out clause.

3. An interesting example of an exothermic reaction is the oxidation of ethanol by potassium manganate(VII)  . It is also shown in slow motion.

4. Interactive organic mechanisms   from the University of Liverpool. This is mainly for undergraduates rather than IB but still contains much that is on our syllabus.

5. Maryland University has produced 26 useful videos from the World of Chemistry   aimed at high school students which you can download for free (you will need to enable pop ups and they only work in certain countries).

6. More for undergraduates than IB students Oxford University’s Chemistry Film Studio   has many videos of good experiments and also includes multiple choice testing on what you observe. One that is useful for the IB is the complex ions of copper.

7. The reaction of sodium metal with chlorine  . Rather dry commentary, "sodium is added to the ‘yellow’ (sic) chlorine gas" but the reaction is well-filmed and the need to heat the sodium first is shown (it also works if a drop of water is added as a catalyst).

8. If you are unable to show your students chlorine, bromine and iodine for real then show them this video of the halogens  

9. The National Science Foundation and NBC "Chemistry Now" has teamed up to produce a weekly online video series to celebrate the International Year of Chemistry. It is free to teachers (and students) and the series aims to uncover and explain physical objects and the changes they undergo. It includes co-ordinated lesson plans. Details can be found on the NSF Website.

10. Videos from IB Chemistry teachers.
Richard Thornley, an IB Chemistry teacher at the International School of Genoa, has made a series of IB videos   to follow the IB syllabus for IBDP Chemistry students. In Richard’s own words, “I have tried to use video games to do some of it - zombies, star wars, swift death at the hand of monsters etc. as well as stop motion, computer graphics and bored (sic) work to make it more memorable and ultra specific to the IB”. The videos are free to access on YouTube and it might well be worth getting your students to look at some of them to complement what you are doing in your own teaching. If they sign up and then they can also comment on them and/or rate them. Richard starting making his videos for the old 2007 programme but has now updated them (and made more) for the current 2014 programme. There is also a series of videos being built up for the 2014 programme by   MSJChem. Michael Sugiyama Jones comes from the UK but is currently teaching the IB at Katoh Gakuen Gyoshu Junior and Senior High School in Japan. These videos closely follow the syllabus and there are also worksheets. Mr M 4 Chem is an excellent site which particularly gives advice and analysis of the scientific investigations for the IA. Mr M is actually James Midgley, an IB teacher at the Australian International School in Singapore. My colleague Paul Lloyd has also produced excellent videos for all the sub-topics on Study IBDP Chemistry, the InThinking revision site for students.

Finally (as a bonus!), more of a song than a video but Tom Lehrer's Elements might be worth a spin.