Chemical Education Today
Especially for High School Teachers Environmental Chemistry Resources This issue contains 14 articles dealing with aspects of environmental chemistry (pages 1581–1621). Many of these are not identified with the Secondary School Chemistry Logo (t) because they require instrumentation that is not commonly found in high school laboratories. However, these articles have the potential to be a rich resource for individual or class research when carried out in cooperation with a nearby college, government, or industrial laboratory. Additionally, access to instruments, such as HPLC, is available to an increasing number of schools through instrument van projects, such as the one pioneered by Juniata College (1). During the past two years, several articles relating to environmental chemistry were published in JCE. For example, Jack Randall explained in a December 1997 article how he integrates environmental studies and research into his high school chemistry classes (2). In the same issue, an article about water pollution in the United States and Mexico included modified analytical procedures for lead, atrazine, and nitrate in the environment that can be carried out without access to instrumentation (3). In a “News from Online” column, 17 Web sites dealing with aspects of marine and freshwater chemistry were cited with annotations (4). JCE Activity #8 provided a student-friendly resource for investigating the impact of spring snowmelt on lakes and streams (5). A search of titles containing the term “environmental” revealed that 72 articles have been published since 1969. Many other articles dealing with environmental issues, but not so identified in the title, appeared in JCE during the same 28-year period. 75 Years of High School Chemistry and JCE This issue marks the last of JCE ’s year-long 75th anniversary celebration. An abbreviated account of the long-standing relationship between high school teachers and the Journal may be found on page 1546. One drawback of such a brief history is that the large number of high school teachers who have contributed articles, served as reviewers, and edited features could not be mentioned by name. To those who have contributed over the years, we say thank you for making the Journal a valuable resource for your colleagues. If you are relatively new to teaching, I encourage you to become involved in order to strengthen this great tradition. Offer your name as a reviewer or begin thinking about an article that you can write. And above all, continue reading the Journal. Literature Cited 1. Siegrist, E.; Anderson, G. J. Chem. Educ. 1997, 74, 567. 2. Randall, J. J. Chem. Educ. 1997, 74, 1409. 3. Kelter, P. B.; Grundman, J.; Hage, D. S.; Carr, J. D.; Mauricio, C. J. Chem. Educ. 1997, 74, 1413. 4. Judd, C. S. J. Chem. Educ. 1997, 74, 1394. 5. Halstead, J. A. J. Chem. Educ. 1998, 75, 400A.
by J. Emory Howell
Secondary School Feature Articles t Demonstrations of the Enormity of Avogadro’s Number, by Damon Diemente, p 1565. t The Egg in the Bottle Revisited: Air Pressure and Amontons’ Law (Charles’ Law), by Louis H. Adcock, p 1567 t CD-ROM Spectroscope: A Simple and Inexpensive Tool for Classroom Demonstrations on Chemical Spectroscopy, by Fumitaka Wakabayashi, Kiyohito Hamada, Kozo Sone, p 1569
Farewell and Welcome: Changes in the High School Office Many readers who have had contact with the High School Office or visited the JCE booth at the NSTA Convention have talked or corresponded with Caren Daniel, Editorial Assistant. Daniel recently moved to Denton, Texas. We wish her the best in her new endeavors and appreciate greatly the work she has done for the Journal.
A Note from Caren Daniel, High School Office Editorial Assistant “It has been my privilege and my pleasure to serve as Editorial Assistant to the Secondary School Chemistry Section of the Journal of Chemical Education the past two years. I have learned a lot and met many wonderful people during this time. I can say without hesitation that I loved my work with the Journal. I am glad that Kelli Bennett will be assuming the position of Editorial Assistant and I believe she will be an asset to the Office. I wish her and the Journal of Chemical Education the best.” Introducing Kelli F. Bennett With the departure of Caren Daniel, I would like introduce and welcome Kelli F. Bennett as Editorial Assistant in the High School Office of the Journal of Chemical Education. A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Bennett is a 1993 graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi. Upon graduation, she joined the Corporate Marketing Department of Magnolia Federal Bank for Savings, coordinating marketing, advertising, and public relations activities at the corporate level and for 67 branches in Mississippi and Alabama. In order to further diversify her work experience, Bennett joined the Hattiesburg Downtown Association as Executive Director. In this role, she coordinated redevelopment efforts of downtown Hattiesburg. Bennett possesses an impressive portfolio reflecting targeted direct mail campaigns, public relations and advertising campaigns, and multiple styles of writing samples. Her skills will complement the High School Chemistry Section and make her an asset to the Journal.
JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu • Vol. 75 No. 12 December 1998 • Journal of Chemical Education
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