Chemistry in the Year 2000: Recruiting Students for the 21st Century David J. Ager, Jullan A. Davies, and Alan R. Morgan College of Arts and Science, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606 The decline in the number of students specializine in the hard sciences, in particular chemistry, a t the ~ n i v e r s % level ~ has been a topic of national, if not international, concern.' Various reasons have been proposed for this decline in uumbers, with the poor mediaimage of chemistry being a popular theme in recent years.2 In fact, i t has already been noted3 that a great many youngsters are "turned off' by science suhiects bv the time thev reach iunior hieh school. While it is cle&ly necessary for chemistr; to re-eialuate its image in the public eye, i t is also clear that immediate action must be taken to "turn on" the very young to science. Those at elementary school now will he our university students in the year 2000. Who will he studying chemistry unless this generation of students is brought back into the fold? With these concerns in mind, we have initiated an undergraduate recruitment program aimed a t the entering class of the vear 2000. These ootential universitv students are currently working their way through the curricula of our elementary schools. and i t was to this laree student hodv that we turned our attention. We have designed our program with several modest and potentially attainable goals in mind: 1) To appeal to the imagination of a young student, typically in grades 2 through 6, and to provide a spark of enthusiasm for chemistry. 2) To demonstrate that chemistry is fun and that the concepts and methodology of science are not difficult. 3) To establish a good working relationship with school teachers at these grade levels and to show them that the university community is availableas an accessible and approachable educational resource.
Our initial discussions distilled down to a workahle lecturedemonstration series designed to fulfill these goals without deeeneratine into vet another "maeic show". o u r imm~diateprohlemwas how to start from nothing and generate a workahle program. Initially, contacts were made by word of mouth, which led to a sporadic series of lecture-demonstrations to the students a t about 10 local schools over a period of several months. I t was clear to us that publicity was a problem and that the program would falter uulesssteps were taken. At about this time, theToledo Section of the American Chemical Society invited us to present our oromam and to exolain its eoals a t a section meeting, wiichUgenerated some much-Leeded publicity throuzh an article in an area newsoaner. Subseaueut to this. . we came into contact with a local science teacl;ers3 interest mouo, . Le Chatelier Societv. As a result. interest was s o u r e d not only in area element& schwls but high schools as well. Ultimately, the major breakthrough in publicity came when the Puhlic Information Office of the university arranged for our lecture-demonstration and for interviews to he featured on local television during the half-time break in a university basketball match. In consequence, we received inquiries from an overwhelming number of schools, which rapidly filled a schedule involving one or two presentations a week for in excess of a year. This, of course, led to some problems when a teacher requested a date the following week, only to find that they could not be accommodated until the next year!
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496
Journal of Chemical Education
Used In the Program Ex~erlments*~
Experiment Dry
ice tied into surgical gloves
ice into 1) water. 2) copper sulfate solution. 3) methyl red SO1ution Liquid nitrogen into polyslyrane container Liquid nitrogen into water Dry
Ballwns imo liquid nnrogen
Rubber tubing into liquid nilrogen-used to knack nall into wood Tomatoes, banana, and egg cwled in liquid nitrogen Rag soaked In aqueous ethanol burns without charring DBmnStration of a CO* tire extinguisher Sodium bicarbonate and acetic acid (glacial)followed by water Match into glycerine Glycerine onto powdered
pdasslum permanganate Mercury thiocyanate snake Ammonium dichromte volcano
Objecl Show that the solld is not ice lwould melt);solid turns directly into gas. A g m . mild turns directly into gas. Vapors given off are white. Liquid very
cold-produces a Im of
vapors.
Many more vapors than C0.-water freezesVeW. raoidiv. . . Gas comranr on coolmg and expands an warmlng. Ballwns may burst on warming since rmbar oscomer brittle. Rubber becomes hard-seful lo explain any burst balloons They become very hard and a Smashed egg lwks as if it is
''~00kBd." Oxygen needed far combu~tiondiffarentthings burn at different rates. Safely talk and how a fire extinguisher works. Homemade fire extinguisher.Can also be used to demonstrate ionization of acetic acid. Different things ignite at different temperatures. Chemical reactions can produce heat: chemical safely.= Can't get something for nothing. Law of Consewation of -s. As snake.=
Bmnar, G. M.: Crsenbowe. T. J. "LectureDsmonrtratlonmdbodc." 2nded.; Purdue
universiv.
Shakhaahlri. 8.2. "Chemical Demonsbatlons";Universwy of Wisconsin;Vol. 1. *Ensure adeqmte ventilation Is available shoe a i m e panicles may reprere* a heam k s r d . This experiment, merefore. Is only conducted in large well-ventllatsd mama where mere is rm chance of any dust m i n g into coman r i m me audience.
While our problems with oublicity and scheduline were gradually b e k g resolved, we-experi&ed growing pains in other areas. Specifically, it was essential for us to desim a program that could h e ~ r u nwith volunteer help from other faculty, staff, and graduate students and that would not he excessively time-consuming, since all of the authors are heavily committed in teaching and research. The criteria for the design of the program were as follows: 1) The apparatus and chemicals necessary for the demonstration
should be light in weight and small in volume to facilitate handling and transport.
' Cf. Chem. Eng. News 1984, (May 7) 44.
Cf. Neckers, D. C.: Tyree. S. Y.; Crosby. G. A,; Block, P.; Symposium on Academic Standards, l8lst ACS National Meeting. Atlanta, 1981. Worthy. W. Chem. Eng. News 1984 (Sept. 3), p 22. lker, S. Mosaic 1983, 14 (6). 7.
2) The cost of consumables should be minimized. 3) Exoeriments should be stimulatine. -. amenable to emlanation to a young audience, and safe to perform in a school environment. .... ....
4) The time required to prepare far the lecture-demonstration
and to clean and pack up at the end should be minimized. This led us to select the states of matter and chemical versus physical changes as the major themes for our program. Theex~erimentsused are listed in the table,and it should be noted ihat none use solutions that have to he made up just prior to use; stock solutions can last for weeks. Most of the preparation time is taken up by checking that all of the equipment is clean and available (this is done by a checklist) and weighing out chemicals. The time required is less than 30 minutes. Elementary schools often have little or no equipment and our amaratus is com~letelvself-contained: water to fill a bucket'& the only re&rement. Bowls to contain waste chemicals and dirtv elassware are Dart of the e a u i ~ ment and cleaning is donevupon r e t u r n t o the unive&y. This means that if more than one lecture-demonstration is given enough clean glassware is taken for all of the presentations so that no cleaning has to he done a t the school. The presentation usudly lasts for one hour.The introduction con~istsof an explanation of rhe differences between a solid, a liquid, and a gas in terms of molecular motion. This is reiterated through the firnt nine experiments, which are linked t ~ ythe substituents of air. The differences hetween
chemical and physical changes are emphasized throughout. We always adopt a friendly, jocular attitude, with many references to everyday things (e.g., sodium bicarbonate is baking soda) and encourage audience participation by asking many questions. Those thinking of setting up a similar program should be aware that it is a time-consuming venture (some schools have been 100 miles away) that requires practice and forethoueht. I t is too earlv t o say whether we have made a dramatic impact on our audiences, hut we can say that the many hundreds of thank-vou letters, from both students and teachers, have been v e j encouraging. One area where we can claim success is in persuading some elementary school teachers, without a strong science hackground, that science is not only based on readily understandable concepts and methods but is also fun. We often find that the teacher is as intrigued by the demonstrations as the students. The results of our program will start to become available at about the turn of the century. With continued effort we anticipate a favorable response. Acknowledgment The authors thank the faculty, staff, and graduate students of the Denartment of Chemistrv for their h e l ~and support. Finanical support for the program from the College of A r t s and Sciences is eratefullv acknowledeed. Thanks are expressed to the teachen and students of our area schools for their interest and enthusiasm. ~~
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Volume 63
Number 8 June 1986
497
