In the Classroom
Combining Chemistry and Music To Engage Student Interest Using Songs To Accompany Selected Chemical Topics Arthur M. Last Department of Chemistry, University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, BC, Canada V2S 7M8;
[email protected] Numerous examples of how the chemical content of comics (1–6), novels (7–16), and movies (11b, 17–22) can be used to provide added interest to chemistry courses at various levels have been published in this Journal and elsewhere. The use of music for similar purposes has also been described to a lesser extent (23–29), in most cases showing how instructors and their students have set new, chemistry-related lyrics to familiar melodies. The latter, and those chemistry-related musical items written and recorded specifically for educational purposes (30, 31), are not considered in this paper. Incorporating Songs in the Chemistry Classroom The focus of this paper is on the chemical content of a number of songs that have been recorded by “mainstream” artists, their relevance to specific topics, and how I have used them in various courses, mainly at the introductory level. In some cases I use a song to introduce a new topic in a novel manner, whereas in other cases I find it more appropriate to play the song after the students have the necessary background to appreciate the lyrics. An alternative approach is to use a song simply to provide students with a break from concentrating on the lecture topic and taking notes. When playing these songs for students I find it useful to project the lyrics onto a screen. Such an approach sometimes helps students to identify chemical references that might otherwise be missed and can also be advantageous when I want to explain a particular point after listening to the recording. A Selection of Chemistry Topics Enlivened by Songs The Periodic Table A number of very brief reports of the use of the Tom Lehrer recording of “The Elements”, which consists of the names of 102 elements set to the tune of the Major General’s song from Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance”, have previously been published (23, 25, 29, 32–35), and this song is now featured on at least two Web sites (36–37). One way in which I have used this song is as an ice-breaker. When meeting a class of first-year students for the first time, I announce that we are about to have a surprise test in which they must write down the symbol of each element as its name is read from the tape or CD. Once the song begins, students quickly realize that I am not serious and they sit back and enjoy the music. As “The Elements” was first recorded in 1959, only the first 102 elements are mentioned in the song; the remaining elements not having been discovered until 1961 or later. This provides instructors with the opportunity of explaining in general terms how the newer elements were synthesized and how research in this field is continuing (38). Some students are both interested and surprised to hear about the competition between groups attempting to synthesize new elements, the controversy surrounding the discovery of elements 116 and 118, and 1202
the dispute that arose over the naming of element 106 (39–44). A challenging homework assignment might be to get students to write an additional verse to “The Elements” using the names of the elements not included in the original recording.1 As part of my introduction to the periodic table I often talk with students about those elements that are essential to life. Some students are surprised when they learn that a number of the elements that are essential in small quantities can have adverse effects in larger quantities. A song that can help to illustrate this point is “Love Is Like Oxygen” by the British band, Sweet. The Formation of Ionic Bonds The use of “NaCl (Sodium Chloride)”, written and recorded by the Canadian sisters Kate and Anna McGarrigle, has also been briefly noted previously (23, 45). This song can be used at the introductory level when the formation of ions and ionic compounds is being discussed in terms of the Bohr model of the atom. One of the shortcomings of this song, however, is that it could leave beginning students with the impression that chlorine is monatomic. Thus one should point out that if a chemist actually wanted to make sodium chloride from sodium metal and chlorine gas in the laboratory, the chlorine would be obtained from a cylinder containing chlorine molecules, not chlorine atoms. When playing this song for students, instructors may need to mention that in today’s society fewer women choose to change their names when they marry than was customary when the song was written. Thus, some present-day students may not fully appreciate the significance of the line in the song in which the name of the female chlorine atom is changed to chloride as a result of “marriage” to sodium. For more advanced students, this song can be used as light relief during a discussion of the Born– Haber cycle and the energetics of ionic bond formation. Thermodynamics The third song of interest, briefly mentioned elsewhere (23, 25), is relevant to students when they are being introduced to the first and second laws of thermodynamics. “First and Second Law” was written by Michael Flanders and Donald Swann, and was originally performed by these artists in the 1963 production of At The Drop of Another Hat. Students who have been introduced to the first law of thermodynamics, and are thus familiar with the concepts of work, heat, and internal energy, should be able to appreciate the artists’ statement of the first law as “heat is work and work is heat”. Their interpretation of the second law “heat cannot of itself pass from one body to a hotter body” (46) can be related to the concept of spontaneity. I usually illustrate this idea by describing how, if a person grabs a red-hot poker, heat is transferred from the poker to the hand, not vice versa. Detailed discussions of why, when two objects at different temperatures come into contact, thermal energy is always transferred spontaneously from the hotter object to the colder object with a net increase in the entropy of the universe
Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 86 No. 10 October 2009 • www.JCE.DivCHED.org • © Division of Chemical Education
In the Classroom
have recently appeared in this Journal (47–49). When using this song in a teaching situation, I always include Flanders’ spoken introduction during which he explains the problems articulated by C. P. Snow regarding the alleged communication gap between scientists and nonscientists (50, 51). Carbohydrates When my organic chemistry students are studying the chemistry of carbohydrates, I like to play them “Sugar” by Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong. This song begins as a conventional love song; however, halfway through the recording Crosby interjects with some spoken chemical terms as Armstrong continues to sing. The terms levulose, lactose, dextrose, glucose, carbohydrate, sucaryl, and Bunsen burner are all mentioned by Crosby, although at one point he does appear to confuse glucose and sucrose. The formula for sucrose, C12H22O11, is also mentioned. Normally, before playing the recording, I explain to students the historical origin of the terms dextrose and levulose and discuss the hydrolysis of sucrose into these two monosaccharides. The mention of sucaryl provides me with the opportunity of discussing this and other artificial sweeteners. Nuclear Chemistry Two songs that I have played for students when discussing nuclear chemistry are “The Plutonium Factor” by Peggy Seeger and Ewan MacColl and “Plutonium Is Forever” by John Hall. Both songs have a strong antinuclear bias and can be used to initiate a lively class discussion in which the pros and cons of nuclear power are debated (52). In “The Plutonium Factor”, reference is made to the enrichment of uranium, the fission of U-235, and fast-breeder reactors. Three nuclear accidents are also referred to in this song: “Russia ’58”, in which an explosion occurred at what was assumed to be a weapons center in the Ural mountains (53); “Detroit ’66”, an incident involving a fastbreeder reactor at Lagoona Beach, 30 miles from Detroit (54); and “Harrisburg ’79”, the so-called “Three Mile Island Accident” (55). The Lagoona Beach incident is the subject of another song, “We Almost Lost Detroit”, by Gil Scott-Heron; however, there are no chemical references in the lyrics. Also mentioned in “The Plutonium Factor” are cesium, tritium, curium and krypton-85, giving an instructor the opportunity to broaden the discussion to include the dangers and uses of various radioisotopes. While the John Hall song “Plutonium Is Forever” contains little chemistry, its title refers to the problems associated with the disposal of spent fuel-rods containing plutonium-239, with its half-life of 24,400 years. In passing, it is worth mentioning to students that through the use of fast-breeder reactors an essentially inexhaustible supply of fissionable plutonium-239 is available to us. Qualitative Analysis “Demi Song”, recorded by Pete Seeger, consists of lyrics written by an Oxford University student to the tune of “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. It is included on Seeger’s album Gazette and thus for the purposes of this article meets my “not written and recorded specifically for educational purposes” criterion. The word “Demi” in the title refers to a laboratory demonstrator, more usually called a laboratory instructor in North America, and the song describes the frustrations of a student who is performing a qualitative analysis and who persistently approaches the supervisor having incorrectly determined the presence of
various ions (e.g., fluoride) in his/her unknown sample. Finally the exasperated supervisor says “Go and take up physics!” Most students can see the funny side of this situation, especially if they have experienced difficulty while performing such an analysis; however, they also appreciate that our laboratory instructors are much more approachable than the one portrayed in the song. The song is also useful in that it mentions a flame test and Group 3; the latter, of course referring to Group 3 of the traditional scheme used in qualitative analysis, not to Group 3 of the periodic table. As an aside, it is interesting to note that on this particular album there is another song, “Martian Love Song”, that contains a reference to hydrogen sulfide—not a substance that one would expect to hear mentioned in a song, especially a love song! Considerations for Including Recorded Songs in Class Copyright Restrictions Instructors who wish to play recorded music for their students should check their national copyright regulations. Canadian law, for example, permits a professor to play a copyrighted song as part of a lecture, but only within the physical walls of the classroom (56). Developing a Discography In addition to searching the Internet, instructors who are interested in expanding the list of songs described above and finding additional chemistry topics mentioned in recorded songs should also ask colleagues and students for suitable suggestions. Relevant details for at least one source for each of the songs discussed in this article are provided in the online supplement. Acknowledgments I wish to thank my former colleagues, Mike Webb, Geoff Rayner-Canham, and Bob Perkins, who first helped me to recognize the benefits of occasionally incorporating recorded music at appropriate moments during chemistry classes. I also thank my students who, over the years, have tolerated this indulgence and have identified additional chemical references in the lyrics of popular songs. Note 1. The author has heard this done as part of a live performance of Tomfoolery, a collection of Tom Lehrer songs, including “The Elements”.
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Supporting JCE Online Material
http://www.jce.divched.org/Journal/Issues/2009/Oct/abs1202.html Abstract and keywords Full text (PDF) with links to cited URLs and JCE articles Supplement Discography with details for at least one source for each of the songs discussed
Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 86 No. 10 October 2009 • www.JCE.DivCHED.org • © Division of Chemical Education
