Chemical Education Today edited by
Erica K. Jacobsen Associate Editor, Precollege Chemistry
Laura E. Slocum
Once Upon a Time...
Assistant Editor, Precollege Chemistry
Erica K. Jacobsen* and Laura E. Slocum
I've spent the past decade of my life in constant contact with picture books, while simultaneously enjoying close contact with my growing children. It's one of life's great pleasures to snuggle up on the couch under a blanket with one or more of the kids, a picture book in hand, even if the choice is one I've already read three times in a row. A few weeks ago, I brought picture books to a larger audience, sans couch and blanket. Using two of Patricia B. McKean's previously published JCE Classroom Activity Connections (1, 2) and her “Using Children's Literature To Teach Science” Web site material (3), I led a homeschool class that melded picture books with various chemistry activities. For example, students first investigated what happened to ordinary sandbox sand when poured into a cup of water. I then read aloud Johnny Castleseed and followed up with a comparison of what happens to “Magic Sand”, which is hydrophobic, when placed in water. While preparing for the class, I unsuccessfully attempted to locate one of Pat's suggested books, Sun Up, Sun Down, at our local library. However, because I very much wanted to share her sunny-day-themed idea of ultraviolet detecting beads, I spent some time searching the online library catalog for a picture book with “sun” in the title as a possible substitution. I eventually hit upon Fun Dog, Sun Dog, which follows a dog's day at the beach, complete with sunglasses and sunscreen, tying in neatly to the planned science activities. It was at that point that I wondered how easy might it be to find science in any book, even if not specifically selected to coordinate with science activities. Flipping to the first page of a favorite, Roxaboxen, I found botany;a mention of greasewood and thorny ocotillo. Could I identify which was which using the book's illustrations? A later page revealed geology;round black pebbles the children used as money. What type of rock might they be? We frequently state that science, including chemistry, is all around us, so why shouldn't it be in picture books, as they portray the world around us? Or even perhaps imagined worlds in fairy tales. What about the molecular structure of the keratin in Rapunzel's hair? Three articles in this issue tell the tale of a different series of stories, The Chemical Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The series consists of stories written in the style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works of Sherlock Holmes, but with chemistry specifically woven into the mystery. Midway through each story, readers are asked to apply their knowledge of chemistry to the revealed clues, to see whether they can solve the mystery before reading on to Holmes' solution. The originators of this series, Rybolt and Waddell, share a prologue (DOI: 10.1021/ed101190d) that discusses the history of how the first story came to be, and how the series has grown over the years, both in number of stories as well as its wide exposure to audiences in other countries through translations. My accompanying piece “Sherlock Holmes Goes Virtual” (DOI: 10.1021/ed200021z) describes the Journal 366
Journal of Chemical Education
_
_
of Chemical Education's first foray into the virtual issues tool offered through the ACS Publications Web site. The 17 Chemical Adventures have been brought together as the focus of this first issue. I look forward to seeing the finished product online and hope readers will find it a useful resource that brings added value to your JCE subscription. Shaw, who wrote two of the Chemical Adventures in the virtual issue, also gives us a glimpse into his involvement with Sherlock Holmes and how he brings it into his classroom (DOI: 10.1021/ed200036x). Laura's Take on the Issue As I read through the various articles in this month's issue, I found myself missing biochemistry more than usual. Because of the size of my school, I alternate each year between Advanced Placement Chemistry, which I am teaching this year, and my two one-semester courses, Introduction to Organic Chemistry in the fall followed by Introduction to Biochemistry in the spring. What prompted my missing these two courses so much? Some wonderful activities that I would use to supplement my students' learning that various authors share this month. The article by Rostejnska and Klímova, “Biochemistry Games: AZ-Quiz and Jeopardy!” (DOI: 10.1021/ed100231r), provides review questions for readers to use with their students. Both of these games are available in the supporting information materials. The authors also give useful feedback from their students regarding these two games. According to the study, “the students indicated that both games were clearly devised and that the quality of the graphic design was high.” I found this particularly useful, because these two games can serve as models for a similar purpose in my first-year chemistry course. In “Amino Acid Crossword Puzzle” (DOI: 10.1021/ed100780n), Sims describes and illustrates how he uses a crossword puzzle to facilitate his students' learning of the 20 standard amino acids. I liked how he focused on the different side chain properties of the amino acids in his crossword puzzle. However, the game that fascinated me the most and I want to explore further with my students immediately is Bridgeman, et al., “A Treasure Hunt for Chemistry” (DOI: 10.1021/ ed100867m). The authors describe how students must work collaboratively both inside and outside of the classroom, to gather information, submit the information electronically, and then use the location on the information on the map as the vertices of the molecule that will be the “treasure” the students are hunting. I especially like how their picture (Figure 1) helped me to begin to understand the process their students use to arrive at their treasure. I plan to try this activity after spring break this semester. I will use the downtown area of the community in which my school is located as the map. We have not done Lewis
_
Vol. 88 No. 4 April 2011 pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc r 2011 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc. 10.1021/ed2000654 Published on Web 03/08/2011
Chemical Education Today
Figure 1. Two questions generate grid coordinates, and a third question identifies an object in that location. The locations, when connected, generate the structure of a molecule: the “treasure”. See “A Treasure Hunt for Chemistry” by Adam J. Bridgeman, Peter J. Rutledge, Matthew H. Todd, and Ricky Connor, J. Chem. Educ. 2011, 88; DOI: 10.1021/ed100867m.
structures yet, so I am going to connect the points the students get to structures of molecules they will be learning how to draw when we do Lewis structures in about a month. Precollege Chemistry Featured Article 5Clark, T. M.; Cervenec, J.; Mamais, J. “The Price Is Right” for Your Classroom. J. Chem. Educ. 2011, 88 (DOI: 10.1021/ ed100224w).
r 2011 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
_
Literature Cited 1. McKean, P. B. Chemistry and Children's Literature: Johnny Castleseed. J. Chem. Educ. 2009, 86, 548–550. 2. McKean, P. B. Chemistry and Children's Literature: Sun Up, Sun Down. J. Chem. Educ. 2008, 85, 622–623. 3. McKean, P. B. Using Children's Literature To Teach Science. http:// intranet.cshgreenwich.org/heartNet/childrensLitAndScience.asp (accessed Feb 2011).
pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
_
Vol. 88 No. 4 April 2011
_
Journal of Chemical Education
367
