learning activitie~ Not by Bread Alone Noojln Walker Pensacola Junior College Pensacola. FL 32504 olav A technioue to sensitize students to the role chemicals . . in our everyday lives can take the form of a classrut~mgame. T h e rulesare simule. Studentsareciven a list of the inaredients from the labei of a commonly used product and areasked t o identify t h a t product. T h e process can follow the format of the popular game of Twenty Questions whereby the questions are answered only by yes or no. Points are awarded on t h e basis of the number of questions still available when t h e product is named correctly. T h e class can he divided into groups of four or five students with each group asking a question in rotation until the "Eureka." Alternatively, the groups can be given a copy of several lists of ingredients, and the winning group is the one t h a t identifies the most products. T o reduce guessing, the group must indicate the clues t h a t led to the conclusion. Older textbooks which include some descriptive chemistry can h e used for reference. In addition, chemical and trade-name dictionaries may also be used but are not necessarily required. Consider t h e following list of ingredients. How easily can t h e students identifv the oroducts? Corn syrup solids, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, sodium casinate, mono and diglycerides, dipotassium phosphate, artificial flavor, artificial color. When one knows that is an edible solid and deduces from the ingredients that it is asweet, fatty, milk-like product, then the product is obviously the nondairy coffee creamer, Coffee Mat& . ..... .
\Varer, mineral oil, pmpylene glycol, lanolin nlrohol, tea-rtea-
rate, kaolin, propylene glyed stearate, lecithin, pectrulatum. tale, magnesium aluminum silicate, cellulose gum methylparaben, propylparaben, fragrance, iron oxide, titanium dioxide, ultramarine blue. This inedible substance is loaded with colored compounds, clay, water, and oil. It is either house paint or face paint, but heeause of the lanolin product and fragrance, the best guess is face paint; it is sold as Revlon's Touch and Glofl. Sodium monoflurophosphate, sorhitol, hydrated silica, PEG 32, water, sodium lauryl sulfate, SD alcohol 38B, flavor, cellulose gum, saccharin, sodium benzoate, FD&C Blue #1, FD&C kellow #lo. This edible product can he described as a sugarless, sweet flavored cleanser with sand and fluoride. Because there is little need to sweeten and fluorodate a bathtub cleanser, it must be toothpaste. In this ease the brand name is Aim*. Water, glucose, sucrose, citric acid, salt, sodium citrate, sodium phosphate, potassium citrate, natural and artificial flavors, ester gum, and FD&C Yellow #5. The sweet and sour flavored liquid loaded with salts is the famous Gatoradem. An orange flavored version also exista. Citric acid, malic acid, monacaleium phosphate, artif~cialflavor, artificial color, ascorbic acid.
1026
Journal of Chemical Education
edited by TOMTIPTON Univemity of Nebraska Linmln. NE 68508
The fruity sourness of the flavored citric acid and the color would lure one toguessingthat this might hes Life Saveecandy except that it is void of any sugar or sweetener. The absence of liquid content and the inclusion of vitamin C leads to the eonclusion that it is Koolaidem. Aluminum zirconium tetrachlorahydrex, eyclomethimne, steryl alcohol, hydrogenated castor oil, talc, silica, PEG-8, distearate, fragrance, propylparaben. The astringent properties of the first ingredient combined with the talc and fragrance is the principal indicator of the antiperspirant Right Guard Solid@. SD alcohol 40, water, propylene glycol, sodium stearate, fragrance, trisodium EDTA, menthol, D&C green #5, FD&C yellow #5. The s~ecificoroduct is difficult to identifv from its inmediems. he sem'isolid, green fragrant ruhatance could be any slick-form cologne. In this mse, it is the lick deodorant Hrura. Students ~houldfind the difference herween de8,dorant and antiperspirant interesting. I'artially hydrogentated soybean oil, water, salt, whey, mono and diclyeerides, lecithin, sodium henroate, artificial flavor, putnss~umcaseinale. beta carotene, vitamin A palmitaw. Thccdible,semisolid, yellw far with theslightly salty taste could he m y numher of margarines. This particular one is Parka@. ~~s Aspirin, sodium bicarbonate, citric acid. The simple combination of aspirin and the gas-producing bicarbonate is the friendly Alka SeItzeQ. Aspirin, aluminum alvcinate. maenesium carbonate. The initial com&ison of this product with the previous would lead one to believe they are essentiallythe same. This one, however, contains the water insoluble magnesium carbonate which is activated by stomach acid whereas the previous has the water activated biearhonate. This product is the acid neutralizing, buffered analgesic named Bufferin*. 11) Toludine red, iron oxide, acrylic resin, water, ethlene glycol, propylene glycol, aliphatic hydrocarbons. Red pigments for color; water and resin for the vehicle. A simple set of ingredients for house paint-Dupont Lucitem.
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This technique helps toshow that we dtj not liveS.hy bread alone." Chemicals play a vital r t ~ l ein our dailv lives. Indeed. the game is a wny t o h i n g a practical meanink to a practicai course which has been losinn.its . ~racticnlitv.Some teachers believe t h a t in our emphasis t o stress t h e theory and t h e structure of the science, we have perhaps neglected t o make it real. This is just one approach. General References Chalmem,Laui8,"DomestieandlnduatrialChsmicalSpeeialities,"MacMillan,NewYork. 1966. Gerdner. William. "Chemical Srnonyma and Trade Names,'. The Technical Pm.8, Ltd.. London. 1971. Goldmhmiedf, Henry. "Praetieal Formulas for Hobby or RoRV Chemical Publkhing Cot New York. 1973. Haynos, William, "Chemical Trsde Names and Comercial Synonyms." D. Van Nastrand, N s w Y~.~ n r k 195s~ ~
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Kirk,Raymond E and Othmothm,Dnothy, (Editors),' ' n m y e l oofCh-orl ~ T~chnoIogy:~ Intmts* Encyclopedia, New York, 1953. SneU, Faiter Dee and Snell. Cornelia T., "Dictionary of Commsreial ChemicaB," D. Van Nostrand. New York. 1982. zimmerman,0.T,and Lavine, lrvinc. '"Handbookof Material Tmds Name,'. I"d"8hial ResearchServiees, Dover, NH 1963.
