EDITORIAL pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Saying Goodbye, yet Staying Engaged in the Community Laura E. Slocum* University High School of Indiana, Carmel, Indiana 46032, United States ABSTRACT: This Especially for High School Teachers article is the author’s last editorial in her role as the Precollege Assistant Editor and touches on her experiences and opportunities as she served the Journal in this role. Articles from the December 2011 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education are also highlighted, particularly several articles that focus on organic chemistry and the use of lab experiments in new and insightful ways. KEYWORDS: High School/Introductory Chemistry, Demonstrations, Laboratory Instruction, Organic Chemistry FEATURE: Especially for High School Teachers
One of the very first demonstrations I saw as a sophomore in high school was Ira Remsen’s addition of copper pennies to nitric acid. I was amazed by this reaction, but rarely demonstrate this myself because of not having a good way to do this for a large group. Dalby, et al. describe a wonderful alternative to this demonstration in their article, “Better Ira Remsen Demonstration” (DOI: 10.1021/ed101172g; Figure 1). Not only does their demonstration not have to be done in a hood, it also “expands the experience to include additional reactions that form colorful copper complex ions”. This aspect of the demonstration would be especially useful for my advanced placement chemistry students as they study the complex ions. Laursen, et al. in their article “The Sabatier Principle Illustrated by Catalytic H2O2 Decomposition on Metal Surfaces” (DOI: 10.1021/ed101010x) also really appealed to my interests as an AP chemistry teacher. I found their description of the experimental method “user-friendly” for high school teachers, particularly because they propose some alternatives to reduce the cost of materials. This also gives students the opportunity to explore heterogeneous catalysis and binding energies, two concepts that are not easily studied in a hands-on manner in the high school setting. One of the courses that I thoroughly enjoy teaching is my fall semester Introduction to Organic Chemistry class and there are several articles in this issue that connect to organic chemistry. Two papers that specifically grabbed my attention were Farmer’s article, “Organic Chemistry Trivia: A Way To Interest Nonchemistry Majors” (DOI: 10.1021/ed1006212), and the Schwartz, et al. article, “Demonstrating Optical Activity Using an iPad” (DOI: 10.1021/ed200014m). In Farmer’s article, he describes how to use in-class stories to keep class interesting. He proposes 18 questions as “openers” for these stories and ways for us to
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will never forget the day John Moore asked me if I would be interested in working for the Journal of Chemical Education (JCE). It seems as if it were just yesterday, yet many things have happened in my life since then, and the Journal has changed, too. Some of you may know that the day after I sent the final draft of my first editorial to Betty Moore in November of 2006, I suffered a really bad head injury. At the time the doctors were not sure whether I would survive, let alone teach again, but as you may have guessed, I recovered and my neurosurgeon still refers to me as his “miracle” patient. I am very blessed. As I was recovering and learning to put words back together, one thing that came out of this that impacted the Journal was the “My Take” part of the Especially for High School Teachers column. At first, it was my chance to practice synthesizing my thoughts and getting them down on paper. After that, Erica and I decided to add a piece in the monthly column, since it allowed both of us to share our thoughts on that month’s issue of the Journal with each of you and also stay connected with you in a more personal way. Several of you have told us that you have appreciated that personal approach and that has touched me in a very special way. Thank you for your comments on that part of our editorial. I have especially enjoyed working with Erica these past five years and meeting so many of you, both long-time and new subscribers to the Journal. I have learned a lot about writing, reviewing, and publishing from the various JCE staff members and I am so grateful for their patience with me as I learned all the ropes and we worked through the transitions together. My favorite part of working for JCE has been interacting with each of you at presentations, at exhibit booths, via e-mail, and on the phone. I have learned so much from each of you and I know that you have also learned useful things from Erica and me that you can use in your classrooms or that have encouraged you in difficult times. I will continue to be a part of JCE at conferences and will see those of you who are attending High School Day at the ACS National Meeting in San Diego in March 2012.1 Copyright r 2011 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
Published: October 17, 2011 1595
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Journal of Chemical Education
EDITORIAL
Figure 1. (A) Nitrogen dioxide filling the flask; and (B) Green color due to nitrate complexes of copper(II). See Dalby, D.; Maynard, J; Moore, J. Better Ira Remsen Demonstration. J. Chem. Educ. 2011, 88; DOI: 10.1021/ed101172g.
connect organic chemistry to everyday aspects of students’ lives. I find this type of approach useful for high school students who themselves have all kinds of questions. My students have a hard time completely understanding optical activity. I show them pictures and describe a polarimeter, but once I saw Schwartz’s article, I thought—what a great way to incorporate the use of their iPads. I encourage you to try this with your students: it is really a cool opportunity to use another free iPad app. Once again, I want to say thanks to each of you for walking along with me these past five years. You have encouraged me and helped me to go on as a teacher. Continue to share your ideas with each other through the Journal. It is one of the best professional resources I have ever used and I have been honored to be a part of the JCE staff these past five years. I know that I will continue to see many of you at conferences: stay in touch with me, too, via e-mail or on the phone—I will continue to read the Journal and follow each of you as well.
’ PRECOLLEGE CHEMISTRY FEATURED ARTICLES Dalby, D. K.; Maynard, J. H.; Moore, J. W. Better Ira Remsen Demonstration. J. Chem. Educ. 2011, 88; DOI: 10.1021/ed101172g.
’ AUTHOR INFORMATION Corresponding Author
*E-mail:
[email protected].
’ REFERENCES (1) American Chemical Society Spring 2012 National Meeting and Expositions. http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb= true&_pageLabel=PP_SUPERARTICLE&node_id=644&use_sec= false&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=b980e3d0-fc24-4730-a886-d23c0f0eae7a (accessed Oct 2011).
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