Chemical Education Today
Chemists Celebrate Earth Day 2007: Recycling—Chemistry Can!
JCE Resources for Chemistry and Recycling
W
by Erica K. Jacobsen
This annotated bibliography collects the best articles that past issues of JCE have to offer for use with the American Chemical Society’s 2007 Chemists Celebrate Earth Day theme, “Recycling—Chemistry Can!” Each item has been characterized as an activity, book review, experiment, informational, or software/video; several fit more than one classification. The most recent articles are listed first. An indication of the levels the article may serve are included. Articles that appeared adaptable to other levels, but not designed explicitly for those levels, are labeled “poss. h.s.” “poss. elem.”,
and so forth. Since all references are to Journal articles, they appear in abbreviated form, including only year, volume, page. W
Supplemental Material
The full text of all articles described in this resource paper are available in this issue of JCE Online. Erica K. Jacobsen is Editor, Secondary School Chemistry, Journal of Chemical Education;
[email protected].
✰ Resources for Chemistry and Recycling photo by Mary E. Harris
Rudolph Diesel Meets the Soybean: “Greasing” the Wheels of Chemical Education. King, A. G.; Wright, M. W. 2007, 84, 202. Informational; h.s./coll. Discusses the production and use of biodiesel fuels along with suggestions on using the topic in the classroom. Sorting Recycled Trash: An Activity for Earth Day 2007. Harris, M. E.; Harris, H. H. 2007, 84, 207. Activity; all levels Students design a separation procedure to simulate sorting in a recycling center. They then separate items such as newspaper, aluminum (pieces of pie tin), glass (marbles), and different plastics. Rubber Reclamation. Williams, K. R. 2007, 84, 217. Informational; h.s./coll. Describes past JCE articles about rubber, including rubber shortages during the 1940s and processes designed for recycling rubber. News from Online: Renewable Resources. Uffelman, E. S. 2007, 84, 220. Informational; h.s./coll./poss. elem. Describes multiple Web sites that relate to population growth, green chemistry, renewable resources, and fuels.
Collected recyclables are delivered to a processing facility. Garbage Juice: Waste Management and Leachate Generation. Jambeck, J. R.; Andino, J. M. 2007, 84, 240A–B. Activity; all levels Students simulate landfill designs with cereal and liquid to learn about leaching, comparing old-style and modern designs.
Used newsprint is blended with water to create a slurry, which can then be used to produce new paper.
212
Journal of Chemical Education
•
Vol. 84 No. 2 February 2007
•
www.JCE.DivCHED.org
Chemical Education Today
A Simple Flotation De-Inking Experiment for the Recycling of Paper. Venditti, R. A. 2004, 81, 693. Experiment; all levels Describes an experiment for the de-inking of wastepaper that uses inexpensive and minimal equipment and chemicals.
Issues-Directed Chemistry: Teaching Chemical Reactions Using Waste Treatment. Adams, D. L. 1999, 76, 1088. Informational; coll./poss. h.s. Describes multiple waste treatment concepts and their integration into an issues-directed introductory chemistry course.
Green Plastics: An Introduction to the New Science of Biodegradable Plastics. Stevens, E. S. 2002, 79, 1072. Book review; h.s./coll. Review of a book that contains an overview of the plastics industry, the development of bioplastics, along with a “Make Your Own” resource section.
A Simpler Small Scale Method for the Identification of Plastics. Anderson, G. E. 1996, 73, A173. Experiment; h.s./coll. Describes an experiment to identify plastics by adjusting the density of a single solution.
New Paper from Newspaper. J. Chem. Educ. Staff 2001, 78, 1512A–B. Activity; all levels Students examine newsprint, recycle the paper to make a new sheet of paper, and use their experience to create a paper work of art. Floating Plastics: An Initial Chemistry Laboratory Experience. Hughes, E. A.; Ceretti, H. M.; Zalts, A. 2001, 78, 522. Experiment; h.s./coll. Describes an experiment to separate plastics using a series of solutions with increasing densities. Chemistry Comes Alive! Vol. 5. Jacobsen, J. J.; Johnson, K.; Moore, J. W.; Trammell, G. 2001, 78, 423. [Available from JCE Software]. Software/Video; h.s./coll./poss. elem. A video illustrates that samples of high and low density polyethylene separate according to their densities.
Introducing the Treatment of Waste and Wastewater in the General Chemistry Course. Applying Physical and Chemical Principles to the Problems of Waste Management. Dhawale, S. W. 1993, 70, 395. Informational; h.s./coll. Presents physical and chemical principles related to wastewater treatment and discusses their use in teaching chemistry. Method for Separating or Identifying Plastics. Kolb, K. E.; Kolb, D. K. 1991, 68, 348. Experiment; h.s./coll. Describes use of a series of liquids of varying densities to separate and identify unknown plastic samples. Subject of letters to the editor: Identifying Plastics by Density. Levinson, A. S. 1993, 70, 174 and Kolb, K. E.; Kolb, D. K. 1993, 70, 174. Discarded Energy: The Heat of Combustion of Garbage. Jensen, T. E.; Eatough, D. J.; Hansen, L. D. 1977, 54, 700. Experiment/Informational; coll./poss. h.s. Presents bomb calorimeter data for garbage samples, discusses its relation to energy waste, and suggests ideas for further study.
JCE Resource Papers: Good Classroom Resources, Well Described, Theme Based Looking for theme-based references to JCE articles, complete with suggestions for their use? The resource papers listed were constructed around National Chemistry Week
and Earth Day themes by Erica K. Jacobsen of the JCE staff. These are great references—in print or online at JCE Online.
✰ JCE Resources for Chemistry and the Home; 2006, 83,
✰ JCE Resources for Chemistry and the Atmosphere; 2003, 80, 1106–1112.
1444–1446.
✰ JCE Resources for Chemistry and Soils; 2006, 83, 199–200. ✰ JCE Resources for Chemistry and Toys; 2005, 82, 1443– 1446.
✰ JCE Resources for Chemistry: Health and Wellness; 2004, 81, 1390–1396.
www.JCE.DivCHED.org
•
✰
JCE Resources for Chemistry and Cleaning; 2002, 79, 1162–1167.
✰ JCE Resources for Chemistry and Art; 2001, 78, 1316– 1321.
✰ JCE Resources in Food Chemistry; 2000, 77, 1256–1267.
Vol. 84 No. 2 February 2007
•
Journal of Chemical Education
213
