This lesson allows for a good deal of student-teacher interaction, albeit much of the time is spent explaining why students' answers are incorrect. On the second day of this lesson, I take the students on a trip to the computer lab. I have them spend an hour using Journal of Chemical Education software. This program provides students with a wonderful description of the chemistry involved, and gives students the background they need to explain the above problem in detail. The third day of this unit is spent looking up definitions for many of the words relevant to the lesson.
Students search the internet, encyclopedias, and any other resource they can find.
I am always surprised by the multitude of information that students find during this portion of the project. Occasionally, I switch this to day two to see if reviewing the words helps get students pointed in the right direction. The fourth day of the lesson is a traditional teacher-led day, looking at the rules of nomenclature for coordination compounds and complexes. I then assign book problems and spend the day going over them. I also allow students to present any interesting tidbits they have found to the class.