If you teach high school chemistry, you already know that chemistry is hard. No matter how much support you give, no matter how many review games, practice problems, guided notes, and study guides you use, there will always be some students who bomb a test and then feel like there is no way to recover.
And honestly? They are not completely wrong. For most of my teaching career, tests made up a large portion of my students’ grades. (At one school it was as high as 70%). A bad test grade could tank an average, and there was only so much homework or classwork could do to bring it back up. I wanted a chemsitry extra credit system that:
- rewarded effort and positive behavior
- gave students a little bit of control over their grades
- motivated students all year long
- did not require me to keep track of 150 different extra credit totals
That is how my Chem Coins were born.
What Are Chem Coins?
Chem Coins are small laminated paper squares that students can earn throughout the year. I print them, cut them out, laminate them, and then cut them again. They are simple, cheap, and surprisingly powerful. They have values of 1 point or 5 points. Get free printable Chem Coins, here!
Students save up their coins and can use them to add extra credit points to any test. There’s really just one rule. Students may add only up to 20 extra credit points to a given test.
This keeps the system helpful without letting a student turn a 42 into a 100 because they somehow managed to hoard a giant stack of Chem Coins. Twenty points in chemistry is not going to make or break a student’s grade by any means. Chemistry is HARD, remember?
How Students Earn Chem Coins
The best part of this chemistry extra credit system is that you can hand out Chem Coins for almost anything you value in your classroom.
Some of the ways my students earn Chem Coins include:
- asking a thoughtful question
- helping another student
- volunteering an answer
- winning a review game
- participating when the class is dragging
- cleaning up after a lab
- finding a mistake on the board
- being especially kind
- doing me a favor
- showing up on time when I am feeling particularly petty
Basically, if a student does something that makes my classroom a better place to be, they might earn a Chem Coin. Students very quickly become invested in the system. Even students who normally do not care much about points suddenly care very deeply about tiny laminated pieces of paper.
Why I Love This System
There are a lot of extra credit systems out there, but most of them require the teacher to keep track of everything. I knew that if I had to keep a running spreadsheet of every extra point every student earned, I would never keep up with it. And imagine the inquiries? “How many points do I have?” Heck to the no.
With Chem Coins, students are responsible for keeping track of their own points. If they want to save them for the unit test, they keep them. If they want to use them immediately, they can. If they lose them, they’re out of luck. I know that sounds harsh, but honestly, it is the only way I have found to make a system like this manageable. I do not replace lost Chem Coins. Students learn very quickly to keep them in a pencil pouch, folder, or special pocket in their binder. Heck, some even keep them in their wallets!
Yes, My Students Created a Black Market
I would love to tell you that students simply earn Chem Coins through hard work and responsibly save them until test day. But of course, that never goes according to plan. Students trade them, they bargain with the, they offer to do each other’s homework for them. One student was even renting out his headphones for chem coins!
There is absolutely a Chem Coin black market. And honestly? I mostly let it happen. As long as students are not stealing coins, I do not care if they trade a 5 Chem Coins for a bag of chips at lunch. The “buyer” just gave up 5 points for their chemistry score. Clearly there isn’t much else I can do for a kid that is literally giving away test points…
How I Use Chem Coins on Tests
When students take a test, they may turn in Chem Coins with their test to add points to their score.
For example:
- A student who earns a 72 could use 8 points worth of Chem Coins to raise the grade to an 80.
- A student who earns an 85 could use 5 points worth of Chem Coins to raise it to a 90.
- A student who earns a 58 could only use up to 20 points, bringing the grade to a 78.
I have found that this gives students hope without completely removing accountability. They still need to study. They still need to pass the test. But if they have one bad day, one rough unit, or one chemistry concept that just does not click, they know they have a way to soften the blow.
Tips If You Want to Try This
If you are thinking about creating your own version of Chem Coins, here are a few things I recommend:
- Use bright colors so they are hard to fake.
- Consider initialing the backside before laminating for authenticity purposes! Perhaps even drop the school year (2025-2026) so students can’t offload them to next year’s students for a fee.
- Laminate them so they last.
- Make different denominations.
- Decide on your maximum number of points ahead of time.
- Be very clear that lost coins are not replaced.
- Expect students to become strangely obsessed with them.
You may be surprised by how motivating a tiny square of laminated paper can be.
Final Thoughts
Chemistry is hard. Sometimes students need a little bit of grace. My Chem Coin system gives students a chance to recover from a bad test grade while still encouraging participation, kindness, effort, and responsibility all year long. And best of all? I do not have to keep track of a single spreadsheet. Don’t forget to get my printable Chem Coins for free, right here!
