Chemical Education Today
Report
Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Mathematics and Science Education: A National Chemistry Week Resource by Kim Lightle
Example ENC Resources
Preparing for National Chemistry Week (NCW)? Looking for a few health-related Web sites to share with your students? Or perhaps a supplemental curriculum on food safety to use as a special resource for the week? The Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Mathematics and Science Education (ENC) houses more than 24,000 mathematics and science curriculum resources in this national repository, with new items arriving daily. ENC services include a searchable database found in the Curriculum Resources area of ENC Online, http://enc.org/resources/ (accessed Jul 2004). One can search by word, phrase, or question, and can limit the search using fields such as grade level, and cost and type of resource. Each catalog record has more than 20 information fields, including standard library fields—title, table of contents, author, subjects, publication date, and publisher—as well as fields unique to the needs of educators, such as grade level, descriptive abstract, evaluations, and resource type.
Tox Town: An Interactive Guide to Commonly Encountered Toxic Substances Grades: 6–12 http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/index.html This Web site from the National Library of Medicine provides an introduction to toxic chemicals and environmental health risks you might encounter in everyday life, in everyday places. The National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science Case Collection Grades: 9–Post Secondary http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/ ubcase.htm This site offers a collection of case studies. Designed to humanize science and to illustrate scientific methodology and values, the cases also develop students’ skills in group learning, speaking, and critical thinking. The cases run the gamut from “The Case of the Tainted Taco Shell” to “The Chemistry of Cooley’s Anemia”. Science and Our Food Supply: Investigating Food Safety from Farm to Table Grades: 6–12 This supplementary curriculum, developed by the Food and Drug Administration, investigates food safety. This free resource includes a videotape and teacher’s guides. For more information, see the ENC record: http://www.enc.org/ resources/records/0,1240,024172,00.shtm.
This searchability and cataloging system make ENC an excellent source for materials to tie in to the National Chemistry Week 2004 theme of “Health and Wellness”. A basic search for free resources in “health” yields more than 400 records. Teachers can also search with specific terms that home in on their area of interest for their classroom; perhaps nutrition, dental health, or women physicians. Several examples are provided in the box below. Classroom Calendar Another useful ENC feature is the Classroom Calendar. The Calendar offers entries that contain background information, ready-to-go activities, and other suggested curriculum materials. The entries contain direct links to carefully chosen Internet sources and are correlated to national science and mathematics standards. Watch the calendar throughout the year as we continue to add new entries and update others. The URL for this year’s NCW link, Chemistry Everywhere, is http://enc.org/features/calendar/unit/0,1819,29,00.shtm (accessed Jul 2004). Eisenhower National Clearinghouse The mission of the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Mathematics and Science Education is to identify effective curriculum resources, create high-quality professional development materials, and disseminate useful information and products to improve K–12 mathematics and science teaching and learning. ENC acquires and catalogs mathematics and science curriculum resources, including Internet resources, creating the most comprehensive collection in the nation. The collection includes materials from federal and state agencies, commercial publishers, professional organizations, local school districts, and individuals. Resources range from print materials, software and CD-ROMs, kits and manipulatives, to thousands of Internet sites. Located at The Ohio State University, ENC is funded through a contract with the U.S. Department of Education and was established in 1992. Kimberly S. Lightle is an Associate Director for the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse at The Ohio State University;
[email protected].
All sites accessed Aug 2004
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Journal of Chemical Education
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Vol. 81 No. 10 October 2004
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www.JCE.DivCHED.org
