EDITORIAL pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
The Influence of Women in Our Lives Laura E. Slocum* University High School of Indiana, Carmel, Indiana 46032, United States ABSTRACT: This Especially for High School Teachers article identifies some of the ways women have impacted the author’s career as a chemist and how these influences have been incorporated into the author’s teaching methods. Celebrating the role of women, including the centenary of Marie Curie’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is one of the objectives of the International Year of Chemistry, and is the focus of this issue of the Journal of Chemical Education. Articles from the June 2011 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education are also highlighted. KEYWORDS: High School/Introductory Chemistry, Demonstrations, Acids/Bases, Drugs/Pharmaceuticals, Gases, Women in Chemistry FEATURE: Especially for High School Teachers
hen I first saw the four objectives for the International Year of Chemistry (IYC), the one that spoke to me the most was the final objective: “Celebrate the role of women in chemistry or major historical events in chemistry, including the centenaries of Marie Curie’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the founding of the International Association of Chemical Societies”.1 It was the beginning of this objective that really spoke to my heart. A handful of women have blessed my life by paving the path for me. One taught me how to do some really complicated experiments when I was a student, one helped me learn how to talk with the parents of difficult students, and several others have shown me some interesting techniques to use in the classroom when I am teaching a particular concept. Most importantly, it is those who have listened when things were not going so well and been completely honest and open with me, as they shared their feedback, from whom I have really learned and am most grateful. This fourth IYC objective served as a great reminder to me of the importance of taking the time to reflect on the influence others have had in my life and my career. Each of us faces challenges in our classrooms, with our administrations, with a student, or our research projects, just to name a few. In the midst of those challenges, we need those whom we can go to and share with, those who will give us honest feedback, even when it might hurt, initially. We may not have many of those people in our lives, but I am most grateful for the ones that I have. They remind me that there is life outside the challenge of the moment and that I do have what it takes to master the present challenge. To those of you who have been in the trenches with me, and you know who you are, thank you! I encourage each of you take a bit of time and reflect on those who have walked your path—send them a note and thank them. It means a lot! This year also marks the 100th anniversary since Marie Curie won her second Nobel Prize, this one in Chemistry for her discovery of the elements radium and polonium. Many books are available on the life of Marie Curie and it is not always easy to sift through them yourself. I appreciated Cheryl Frech’s Review of Radioactive: Marie and Pierre Curie—A Tale of Love and Fallout
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Copyright r 2011 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
(DOI: 10.1021/ed200179p) a lot because it points out how the book reveals not only the scientist Marie Curie was, but also allows us to see her humanity. It is good to see the challenges she faced after the death of her husband and that she was a real person, just like us. This gives us another connection between our real world and chemistry that we can share with our students. Geoff Rayner-Canham and Marelene Rayner-Canham in “British Women, Chemistry, and Poetry: Some Contextual Examples from the 1870s to the 1940s” (DOI: 10.1021/ed100739x) make a number of connections to women’s roles, their lives, and their study of chemistry. The poems, written by the women chemists themselves and included in the article, are wonderful. The authors conclude with the following comment, “In some examples, they were simply describing their workplace experience while in others they used poetry as a medium for criticism.” This made me wonder if I should take some lessons from them, but I have to admit writing poetry is not really my style. I am always looking for new ways to make stronger real-world connections to chemistry for my students. Schwartz-Bloom et al. (DOI: 10.1021/ed100097y) in their article “Teaching High School Chemistry in the Context of Pharmacology Helps Both Teachers and Students Learn” share six modules that connect biology and chemistry to real-life issues. I especially liked the module titled Acids, Bases, and Cocaine Addicts. We have been talking extensively about drug and alcohol abuse this year at my school, and as I write this article, I am ready to teach acid base chemistry to my students. The module the authors of this article discussed is a great connection to relevant everyday topics in my students’ lives. I am looking forward to incorporating this into my curriculum and sharing it with my biology colleagues. As an educator, I am always looking for interesting and different ways to explain concepts to my students. Campbell et al. (DOI: 10.1021/ed100745c) in their article “Gas Property Demonstrations Using Plastic Water Bottles” propose the idea of using a simple water bottle to illustrate Boyle’s, Charles’s and
Published: April 18, 2011 681
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Journal of Chemical Education
EDITORIAL
’ REFERENCES (1) Taylor, T. M. J. Chem. Educ. 2011, 88, 6; DOI: 10.1021/ed101038q. (2) ACS Central Regional Meeting 2011. http://cerm_regional. sites.acs.org/ (accessed Apr 2011). (3) ChemEd 2011 Conference Home Page. http://www.chemed2011. com/ (accessed Apr 2011).
Figure 1. Sealed water bottle before cooling on left; sealed water bottle after cooling on right. See Campbell, D. J.; Bannon, S. J.; Gunter, M. M. Gas Property Demonstrations Using Plastic Water Bottles. J. Chem. Educ. 2011, 88; DOI: 10.1021/ed100745c.
Avogadro’s laws (Figure 1). I was particularly interested in their ideas because I do gas laws very early in the school year and I would like to incorporate this into my introduction to chemistry. I would use these ideas as demonstrations to open my gas laws unit and then have the students do their more quantitative investigations. I like learning new things from colleagues and incorporating them into my curriculum. That is what JCE is all about—the sharing of information and each of us learning from one another. It was wonderful seeing so many high school teachers in Anaheim at the American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting in March. Many of the presenters shared materials that are freely available to high school teachers on the Internet and a follow-up report on High School Day will be coming. I am also the Education Program Chair for the ACS Central Regional Meeting (CERM),2 June 8 10th, which will be held in Indianapolis, IN, on the campus of Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI). There are symposia and workshops for high school teachers all three days of the conference and Carolina is providing breakfast for all of the high school teachers on Friday morning. Also, as you make your summer plans, keep in mind ChemED 2011, which will be held on July 24 28th at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI.3 Erica and I are looking forward to seeing any of you who will be attending ChemED this summer.
’ PRECOLLEGE CHEMISTRY FEATURED ARTICLE Schwartz-Bloom, R. D.; Halpin, M. J.; Reiter, J. P. Teaching High School Chemistry in the Context of Pharmacology Helps Both Teachers and Students Learn. J. Chem. Educ. 2011, 88; DOI: 10.1021/ed100097y.
’ AUTHOR INFORMATION Corresponding Author
*E-mail:
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