Teacher turns song 'Fate' into acid-base lesson

"Fate is an acid that cannot be near a base - The innocent heart turns purple when it meets pink" is the content of the lecture based on the music "Fate" by teacher Dang Xuan Chat.

A video lecture on acids and bases by teacher Dang Xuan Chat, Hong Ha High School (Hanoi), filmed at the end of April, is currently spreading rapidly among students thanks to its creativity. With a love for bolero music, the teacher from Thai Binh cleverly incorporated chemistry knowledge, composed lyrics, and performed it himself on the background music of the song "Duyen phan".

"As an acid, you cannot get close to a base - Your innocent heart turns purple litmus red when it meets it" is the opening sentence introducing the property of acid that changes the color of litmus to red. To help students remember that common acids do not react with metals after hydrogen, teacher Chat sang a song "Gold, silver, platinum, copper and mercury - Honestly, I am not interested in these precious metals".

The acid and base compounds were suddenly personified in the teacher's song, becoming a couple that really wanted to come together, "But we are opposites, we can't meet - Touching each other, we don't disappear for long".

Teacher Dang Xuan Chat is loved by many students for his creative lectures and approachable style. Photo: NVCC

Collaborating with a test preparation center, regularly recording video lectures, Mr. Chat soon had the idea for this performance. "Before that, I made up the lyrics for the first two lines of the song Duyên mệnh and often mumbled them in my head. When I went to record the lecture, I spontaneously sat down and completed the song in about an hour. While filming, I didn't know the lyrics yet, so I had to look at the paper and only filmed it twice because I didn't have much time," the teacher born in 1989 shared.

With the original intention of providing a fun approach to students, the teacher was surprised at how popular the song became.After the video was posted, many students thanked the teacher for helping them relieve stress as important exams were about to begin. While listening to the teacher sing and humming along, students shared that they no longer felt as bored with chemistry as before.

Two years of teaching is not a long time, but Mr. Chat finds interest in imparting knowledge to students. "Many students have no foundation in chemistry, I often remove their fear of chemistry by reviewing old knowledge, teaching simple things, encouraging them to speak up to get bonus points, making chemistry no longer a difficult subject to conquer," he said.

With the enthusiastic support of students, Mr. Chat shared two plans. First, he wants to compile a system of free documents to help students self-study to regain chemistry knowledge in the curriculum of each grade, starting from grade 8. Second, he can teach free of charge to students in Hanoi, expected to be one or two sessions per district to guide students on how to learn chemistry for those who have lost their basic knowledge.

According to VNE