Technically, Chemistry is the "scientific study of matter, its properties, and interactions with other matter and with energy".

What is THAT?

Basically chemistry is studying matter, like baking soda, and watching what happens when you add vinegar to it. Did it change color? Did it heat up? Did it make bubbles or form crystals? What happened? Watching and explaining are all a part of chemistry. Let's get started!

Step 1: Get organized.

You'll need a three-ring binder, a pencil, and a printer, because this course has a lot of chemistry experiments, many of which have downloadable worksheets and data sheets that you can print out. I recommend building your science notebook incrementally as you go along, using a three hole punch on the worksheets you print out and complete and sticking it in a binder. You can also print out the individual homework sets that accompany each section, complete those and also stick them in the binder. Snap photos of yourself doing the experiments and paste them in, and you'll have one amazing science notebook journal at the end of the year!

If you'd like to keep a more rigorous science journal, you'll want to check out my complete How to Keep  Scientific Journal instructions. These are the ones I had my college students prepare with every lab they performed.

Click here to download the Course Outline.

Step 2: Download the shopping list for the course.

PLEASE NOTE: You will need materials to do the chemistry experiments below.

There used to be just ONE KIT you would buy to do them all. Then the company changed the OLD KIT so now we have a NEW KIT and an OLD KIT and they are completely different. Some people will have only the OLD C3000 KIT, some will have the NEW C3000 KIT, and some people don't want to buy a kit at all and instead want to shop for materials as they need them. (Does this sound HARD accommodate everyone? It is!)

Here's how the list below works: Go through the curriculum in the order and sequence as indicated below. In parenthesis, you'll find experiments that you can do to understand this scientific concept even more. There are several options for experimentation, some will require the OLD KIT, some will need the NEW KIT, and some won't use either KIT for folks that just want to buy one thing at a time.

This is the shopping list for the C3000 v2.0 NEW KIT. (The old kit is no longer available after 2018). You will also need the items on this list in addition to the kit itself.

This is the CHEMISTRY SHOPPING LIST for people that do not want to buy a kit but would rather pick and choose the individual items. If you prefer, here's the same list in the original Excel file format here.

I also recommend getting a good reference textbook, something you can refer to as you go along and work out some of the example problems and go further into depth reading if you need to. You can use any high school or introductory level college chemistry textbook you want. Here's one that I use in the some of the videos I created for you in the course:

"Chemistry", by Zumdahl, Steven and Susan Zumdahl.

This unit on Chemistry is chocked full of demonstrations and experiments for two big reasons. First, they’re fun. But more importantly, the reason we do experiments in chemistry is to hone your observational skills. Chemistry experiments really speak for themselves, much better than I can ever put into words or show you on a video. And I’m going to hit you with a lot of these chemistry demonstrations to help you develop your observing techniques. If you don't have access to a chemical or can't do a particular experiment, just watch me do it on video so you're clear about what's really going on.

We’re going to be using real chemicals, some of which are corrosive, hazardous, and most are toxic. This course is NOT for small children or households with loose pets. As you gather your equipment for this section, please keep ALL chemicals out of reach and sealed until you need them. We’ll show you how to safely store, mix, and clean up your chemicals. You can order all your chemicals from the same supplier (links provided in the material list). We’ll be using this set of chemistry equipment and chemicals for the entire course. Make sure you have goggles and gloves for all experiments, and protect your table (put it near a window for good ventilation) with a thick plastic tablecloth.

Step 3: Watch videos below in order.

You can jump around within this course, however it's important to watch the first couple of videos in order before you launch into the course. There's over 200 videos, about half of which are instructional content-type of videos, and the rest are chemistry experiment videos. They are both interspersed together so you get to do experiments as you learn about the concepts and academics at the same time.

There are specific scientific skills you will learn by completing this chemistry course:  you'll not only work independently designing and conducting your experiments (alongside guidance from myself), but you will also discover how to scientifically investigate your questions and hone your observation skills to figure out your own answers.

In this course, you can expect to model what's going on in the real world down on paper through scientific modeling to more efficiently solve real-world problems, like slowing down pollution rates and figuring out if grandma got ripped off when she purchased her "pure" silver set. These solving methods will require using the math skills you already have, and I'll show you how to put those skills to good use.

You'll also learn how to design experiments so you can measure and take data, make sense of your data and turn it into not only results to a problem, but make solutions and recommendations based on scientific evidence through the experiments they set up themselves.

Are you ready to get started on your journey in Chemistry? Let's go!