Carolina Biological Supply Company is the exclusive distributor of the Mendeleev Periodic Table Simulator, a product co-developed by the recipient of the 2009 James Bryant Conant Award in High School Chemistry Teaching.

Sally Mitchell, the 2009 award-winner, teaches at East Syracuse-Minoa High School in New York. She developed the Mendeleev Periodic Table Simulator with Dr. Daniel Wright, Associate Professor of Chemistry at Elon University in North Carolina.

The Mendeleev Periodic Table Simulator enables students to easily develop the modern periodic table using the chemical and physical properties of the elements.

Students first practice sorting and grouping skills with ordinary playing cards. They apply these skills to the properties of elements to build Mendeleev’s original table, then the modern periodic table.

“The Simulator is an inquiry-based activity,” Mitchell said. “It takes students back to 1860, to those elements discovered. The student becomes Mendeleev, faced with the same problems of periodicity.”

“Our activity leads students to a conclusion, but any way they do it, they are never wrong,” Mitchell continued. “It is important to allow our students to explore ideas, come up with theories, present them, and then maybe change them as more evidence is collected.”

Mitchell and Wright presented the Mendeleev Periodic Table Simulator at the ChemEd Conference and selected Carolina to be its distributor.

Bruce Wilson, Department Manager of Chemistry and Physics at Carolina, said, “The Simulator gives students that moment of clarity and understanding about the periodic table that all teachers strive to give their students. We thank Sally and Dan for creating such a unique and powerful teaching activity and are proud of our partnership with them.”

The James Bryant Conant Award in High School Chemistry Teaching recognizes, encourages, and stimulates outstanding teachers of high school chemistry in the United States at the national level. To find out more about the award visit the American Chemical Society.

Carolina has supported educators in science and math education for over 80 years. Learn more about the company's collaborative approach to learning and educational advancement here.