Declan Fleming
Declan Fleming is a chemistry teacher and author of our Exhibition Chemistry column.
Declan has taught for nine years in comprehensive, grammar and international schools in the UK and Austria. In 2011 he was appointed as a School Teacher Fellow to the University of Bath, UK, by the Royal Society of Chemistry where he worked on projects to increase the recruitment and retention of undergraduate chemists. During this time he took on the regular Exhibition Chemistry column for Education in Chemistry and he continues to contribute to a wide range of science communication projects. He has a keen interest in photography and loves being outdoors, preferably at cloud base under his paraglider.
Image © Declan Fleming/Matthew Lord
Exhibition chemistryDemonstrate intermolecular forces with colourful separations
Layer intermolecular interactions into your practical lessons with these chromatic experiments
- Exhibition chemistry
Brew up interest in redox with this quick reduction
Use this fresh, fast approach to demonstrate the colourful oxidation states of vanadium
- Exhibition chemistry
Demonstrating the chameleon redox reaction with a lollipop
Give your students a sweet treat with this colourful manganate(VII) reaction demo
- Exhibition chemistry
Demonstrating the importance of surface area to rates of reaction
Use a combustible powder demo to engage students and teach them about safety in the lab
- Exhibition chemistry
The production and combustion of nitrocellulose
Get your students engaged in a flash with this impressive demo
- Exhibition chemistry
Demonstrating the heating curve of tert-butanol
Use this to effectively show your students two changes of state in one experiment
- Exhibition chemistry
The reaction between sodium and chlorine
Use this to demonstrate this classic and spectacular chemistry experiment
- Exhibition chemistry
Shocking revelations 2: neutralisation reactions
Use this experiment to demonstrate the different behaviours of weak and strong acids
- Exhibition chemistry
Shocking revelations: a conductometric titration
Strengthen students’ mental models of particles reacting in solution
- Exhibition chemistry
The movement of ions: bringing electrolysis to life
Demonstrate the movement of positive and negative ions with a simpler, safer version of this classic demo
- Exhibition chemistry
Dynamite soap: The combustion of stoichiometric hydrogen–oxygen mixtures
Add this quick demo to the end of a lesson on squeaky pops to show the dramatic impact of mixing chemicals in the correct proportions
- Exhibition chemistry
Demonstrating the diffusion of ammonia and hydrogen chloride
Revisiting and refining a classic diffusion demo with Declan Fleming
- Exhibition chemistry
The gallium beating heart
Explore redox chemistry with this safer alternative to the mercury beating heart demo
- Exhibition chemistry
Pyrophoric silanes
Use the impressive reaction of pyrophoric silanes in air to explore a range of chemistry topics with your students
- Exhibition chemistry
The screaming jelly baby
Demonstrate energy release in action with this spectacular experiment
- Exhibition chemistry
The reaction of magnesium with steam
How to bridge a common gap in students’ understanding of the reactivity series
- Exhibition chemistry
Superheated steam
Ready to start a fire with water? Use this demo to teach students about enthalpy and properties of water
- Exhibition chemistry
When life gives you lemons (or oranges)
Teach your students about volatile organic compounds with these juicy demonstrations
- Exhibition chemistry
Don’t go breakin’ (down) my (love) heart
Teach chemical change and the thermal stability of carbonates with this simple demonstration using sweets
