App review by Emily Pohlonski, Common Sense Education | Updated August 2019
MEL Chemistry VR Lessons
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MEL Chemistry VR Lessons

Zoom in to the atomic level with limited VR interaction

Get it now
  • Download on Google Play
  • Download from App Store
Learning rating
Editorial review by Common Sense Education
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Grades
6–12 This grade range is based on learning appropriateness and doesn't take into account privacy. It's determined by Common Sense Education, not the product's publisher.
Subjects & Skills
Science, Critical Thinking
Price:  Paid $9.95 per lesson pack.
Platforms:  Android, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
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Take a look inside

6 images
Students will need a VR headset such as Google Cardboard.
Look at molecules at the molecular level.
Use the button on the VR headset to select a lesson from the menu.
Zoom in to change scale.
Select answers to multiple-choice questions.
Learn how electrons fill orbitals.

Pros: Uses VR technology to help kids clearly see atomic scale.

Cons: VR viewers only allow for single-click interactions when kids could benefit from drag-and-drop manipulation of atoms.

Bottom Line: While virtual reality draws students in, other chemistry apps allow for deeper conceptual understanding.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

Teachers can best use MEL Chemistry VR Lessons as a hook for individual students who are motivated by virtual reality. Students who haven't previously used VR viewers will need support identifying the metal ring to select items on a screen. Use one of the sample videos on the MEL Science website to help students understand how to interact with the lessons.

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Standards:

MEL Chemistry VR Lessons introduces key concepts such as atomic structures, periodic trends, isotopes, and electron configurations. Each lesson contains a narrated video followed by a few multiple-choice questions that check for understanding. After learning to name the orbitals, students are asked a question like "How many electrons can share the same orbital?" and get immediate feedback.

To use MEL Chemistry VR Lessons, students will need a virtual reality (VR) viewer such as Google Cardboard that fits a handheld iPhone or Android device -- or a VR headset such as Google Daydream, Oculus Go, or Gear VR. One lesson pack is available free; additional lesson packs can be purchased for $9.95 each. Families who subscribe to MEL Science for $34.90 a month get the VR lesson packs along with the MEL Chemistry sets.

MEL Chemistry VR Lessons draws kids in with the excitement of virtual reality. Students can literally look around their virtual chemistry lab and select a lesson. However, the initial buzz of excitement that VR brings to the classroom fades quickly: The only way to interact with the material is through single clicks. Students get frustrated because they can’t drag and drop or spin the atoms themselves. A different tool, Happy Atoms, combines physical models with the ability to manipulate the molecule students have created.

MEL Chemistry VR Lessons uses VR technology to help kids clearly see scale, a major Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Science and Engineering Practice. These activities are fairly didactic, with little opportunity for students to notice and make sense of patterns. An alternative tool, Collisions: Play Chemistry, uses engaging puzzles to help students figure out chemistry principles themselves.

Overall Rating
Engagement Would it motivate students and hold their interest? Is it visually appealing? Would it inspire teachers to try something new or change their instruction?

Though kids are excited to use virtual reality technology, they're limited to single-click interactions with the material.

Pedagogy Does the tool help teachers promote a more student-centered experience? Will students gain conceptual understanding or think critically? Does it deepen teachers’ pedagogical thinking?

Lessons are accurate and direct, but there are limited opportunities for deep conceptual understanding of chemistry content.

Support Can students and teachers get assistance when they need it? Is it created with people of different abilities and backgrounds in mind? Is learning reinforced and extended beyond the digital experience?

Students get immediate feedback for selected response questions. A companion app and website provides opportunities to engage in classroom experiments.

Common Sense reviewer
Emily Pohlonski Classroom teacher
See how we rate and review

Key Standards Supported

Matter and Its Interactions

  • MS-PS1-1

    Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures.

  • MS-PS1-2

    Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.

  • MS-PS1-4

    Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.

  • MS-PS1-5

    Develop and use a model to describe how the total number of atoms does not change in a chemical reaction and thus mass is conserved.

  • HS-PS1-1

    Use the periodic table as a model to predict the relative properties of elements based on the patterns of electrons in the outermost energy level of atoms.

  • HS-PS1-2

    Construct and revise an explanation for the outcome of a simple chemical reaction based on the outermost electron states of atoms, trends in the periodic table, and knowledge of the patterns of chemical properties.

  • HS-PS1-7

    Use mathematical representations to support the claim that atoms, and therefore mass, are conserved during a chemical reaction.

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