Chemical Education Today
Especially for High School Teachers by J. Emory Howell
May Articles of Interest This issue contains a rich selection of interesting and useful articles that can be applied to high school settings. Chemical Education Today Many who read this column do stress understanding and application in their teaching, only to witness their former students become discouraged or bored in the first college course. Gillespie’s thoughts on “Reforming the General Chemistry Textbook” can be the basis for stimulating dialog across the high school/college interface. Perhaps a high school teacher would consider addressing this with a submission to the “View from My Classroom” column. If you have access to a college or public library that subscribes to Nature, you will find Heinhorst’s column to be an excellent guide to recent articles that can be used in introductory courses, including cloning of the lamb Dolly. Chemistry Everyday for Everyone In the article “Radioactivity in Everyday Life,” Hutchison and Hutchison mention several consumer products that can be demonstrated to be radioactive using a radiation survey meter. Schultz uses “Dice-Shaking As an Analogy for Radioactive Decay and First-Order Kinetics” as the basis for a laboratory activity that might be useful in second year class. Acid–base chemistry applied to paper making is described by Carter in “The Chemistry of Paper Preservation: Part 4. Alkaline Paper”. An international perspective can be gained by reading “Turkish Secondary Students’ Conceptions of Introductory Concepts” by Ayas and Demirbas. In the Classroom O’Haver reports on “Chemistry for Pre-Service Middle School Teachers”, an introductory chemistry course for non– science majors designed to improve the preparation of science and mathematics teachers for grades 5–8. In the article “Notes on an Outreach Forum for High School Chemistry Teachers: An Unexpected Success”, Mayfield mentions that JCE articles were used in the forum to generate thought and discussion. We like that! “Portfolio Assessment in School Chemistry: One Teacher’s Guidelines”, by Phelps, LaPorte, and Mahood, describes an effort to hold students accountable for much more than factual recall, including problem solving, experimental design, analyzing results, identifying misconceptions, and developing concepts. Jones describes the “Use of a Classroom Jury Trial To Increase Student Perceptions of Science As Part of Their Lives”. A current, controversial topic, use of the drug mifepristone (RU486), was used as the basis for discussion using a method that could be applied in a high school setting as well. For a quantitative treatment of reaction rate, an article by Pacer, “The Coupling of Related Demonstrations To Illustrate Principles in Chemical Kinetics and Equilibrium”, contains an explanation of two methods using readily accessible materials. Aside from the kinetics discussion, the author’s method of collecting gas by water displacement is
useful. An interesting approach to developing the concept of equilibrium is described by Garritz in “The Painting– Sponging Analogy for Chemical Equilibrium”. In the Laboratory Teggins and Mahaffy have developed a method for conducting “Kinetics Studies Using a Washing Bottle”. Their method avoids the need for a gas collection buret. Siegrist and Anderson describe how gas chromatography, made accessible through a high school van project, is used in the “Analysis of Mouthwash”. The description of “Properties of Zeolite A Obtained from Powdered Laundry Detergent: An Undergraduate Chemistry Experiment”, by Lindquist and Smoot could be of interest to teachers of second-year chemistry who are looking for a project approach to studying several concepts and techniques. Zeolites are used for many purposes, including desiccants, ion exchange materials, and catalysts. Another article that will be of interest to a limited number of high school teachers, but should be mentioned here, is “A Simple Conductance Device”. Authors Burns and Lewis explain how to construct and use the device, including interfacing it with a computer. Research If you are interested in national trends in college general chemistry that will affect your college-bound students, you may wish to read Taft’s report on the “National Curriculum Survey of College General Chemistry (1993)”. Similarly, the “Nature and State of General Chemistry Laboratory Courses” is reported by Abraham et al.
Congratulations, Ron DeLorenzo Ronald DeLorenzo, Editor of the Applications and Analogies feature, received the 1997 Visiting Scientist Award from the American Chemical Society Western Connecticut Section, an award given to outstanding chemical educators at the university level. He will spend five days (May 11–15, 1997) in western Connecticut, where he will visit several high schools, make presentations to students and teachers, and be honored at a banquet. DeLorenzo, a faculty member at Middle Georgia College, has edited the Applications and Analogies column since its beginning in 1979. More than 120 articles have been published since then. This column features unusual, interesting, everyday-life chemical applications such as “Why Oatmeal Sticks to Your Ribs” (1981, 58, 787), “Crack— A High Interest Compound…” (1995, 72, 322), and “The Photochemistry of Sunscreens” (1997, 74, 51). Analogies chosen are those that help students explain difficult chemical concepts. If you have an idea for a manuscript that is consistent with the types of applications or analogies published in this feature please contact DeLorenzo at Department of Chemistry, Middle Georgia College, 1100 Second Street, SE, Cochran, GA 31014-1599. email:
[email protected]. Peachnet.edu phone: 912/934-3052.
Vol. 74 No. 5 May 1997 • Journal of Chemical Education
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