Chemical Education Today
Especially for High School Teachers by Diana S. Mason
Light Up Your Life Several articles in this issue talk about the science of light. The JCE Classroom Activity (pp 48A–B) and the companion article (pp 49–52) can help students differentiate among various terms associated with light energy such as incandescence, luminescence, fluorescence, phosphorescence, triboluminescence, and bioluminescence. The next article (p 53) describes several demonstrations based on an oscillating chemiluminescent reaction. Don’t miss it! Bopegedera (p 55) tells us how the study of art was combined with the “Light Program” to help make meaningful connections UV excitation produces fluorescence. between art and science. This program, focused on the skills needed for success, has helped strengthen each subject. Working together in interdisciplinary endeavors is a theme of several other articles. It is interesting that we use chemistry to have our clothes reflect more white light, therefore appearing to be cleaner (p 60). But are they really clean? Since textiles are good media for hosting microorganisms, they have the potential to transmit diseases. This is something to consider before letting students share items of community apparel in the lab. (Examples of common antimicrobial agents for textiles are in Table 1 on p 60.) Chemistry and biology frequently overlap in academic settings, and we cannot teach chemistry without the needed mathematics. Sometimes the connections are obvious to us, but our students need to be shown how disciplines are linked. Pence, Workman, and Haruta (pp 65–69) present a very interesting perspective on how freshman interest groups (FIGs) formed around a few core subjects might influence students’ retention and attitude. One way that FIGs can be connected is through the use of technology, such as graphing calculators. Also discussed was the importance of giving faculty the time needed to work together to make a program a success. We spend a lot of time dealing with the poor preparation of our students, but do remedial programs promote student success? Bentley and Gellene from Texas Tech University reported on a six-year study of remediation for incoming first-year chemistry students (pp 125–130). It is amazing how little positive effect this mandated remedial program had on students’ success—an enlightening lesson for all of us who spend hours trying to help students whose real problems may lie outside of academics.
JCE Online Store Now Open! Yes, the much anticipated JCE Online Store is now open for business. You can subscribe to JCE, renew your subscripwww.JCE.DivCHED.org
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Secondary School Featured Article 䊕 JCE Classroom Activity: #68. Turning on the Light, by Patricia B. O’Hara, Carol Engelson, and Wayne St. Peter, p 48A
tion, and order JCE books and JCE software. In honor of the grand opening, you will receive a gift if you purchase merchandise totaling $100 or more by February 28, 2005! For details about the store, see p 176 of this issue and go to the store itself at http://store.jce.divched.org. When you visit the JCE Online store, you can check out all the wonderful selections from our Chemistry Comes Alive! digital video series, the popular reprint collection, Chemical Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and the many options for additional CD-ROMs and classroom materials. Just shop till your fingers drop because the lights will be on 24/7. Of course, you may continue to order by mail, fax, and telephone. For your convenience, an order form is on p 176B of this issue. ACS Regional Teaching Excellence Endowment Campaign Begins ACS, the Division of Chemical Education (DivCHED), and this Journal are committed to supporting high school science teaching in every way possible. One way is by honoring special teachers who are making a difference and turning on their students to chemistry. The Division of Chemical Education, under the leadership of Glenn Crosby, has initiated a fund drive to raise $300,000 over a two-year period. The first $100,000 in donations will be matched on a 1:1 basis by DivCHED. When the $300,000 goal is attained, CHED will be able to award $1000 annually to an outstanding teacher in each of the ten ACS regions. Details on contributing are on p 23, with a link to a donation form. On p 25 read about the 2004 winners of the ACS awards for outstanding High School Chemistry Teachers from four of the ACS regions. ChemEd 07: Lone Star Solutions It’s not too soon to mark your calendars for July 29– August 2, 2007 for a visit to the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton for the international meeting of ChemEd 07. Denton forms the apex of what is called the “Golden Triangle”. For those of you who like to plan ahead, the Radisson Hotel is the conference hotel and is relatively close to the UNT campus. The entire hotel has been blocked for this meeting! BCCE 2004 reported 1440 registrants (p 17)—well, y’all come on down! You know, everything is bigger in Texas!
Vol. 82 No. 1 January 2005
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Journal of Chemical Education
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