Chemical Education Today
Especially for High School Teachers
by Erica K. Jacobsen
The Many Faces of Chemistry Growing up, I moved through a series of career choices. Early on, being a professional tennis player was high on the list. I admired two top women’s players, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert-Lloyd. However, sheer lack of talent nixed that idea. After that, being an optometrist was my top choice. Bad vision forced regular visits to my own optometrist, my friend’s father. I loved to sit and contemplate the mysterious equipment as I waited. Wouldn’t it be fun to use? Eventually I realized I wanted a job that provided more indepth, regular contact with people, instead of a 20minute appointment once a year. On to the next choice, teaching Spanish. In high school I enjoyed the challenge of learning the language. Both of my parents were teachers. I could do that! Plans changed again Sample chemistry poetry poster when I took my first colgeneral chemistry student. lege chemistry course with Prof. Art Ellis. I realized that instead of teaching grammar, I would prefer sharing not only whiz-bang demos, but also studying and using innovative pedagogy. For example, Ellis devised a test hint sheet used like a lottery scratch-off game. That class set me on the path I remain on today. It continues to excite me. Contacts with people I respected shaped my decisions and career selection. Seeing people and the subject in action made a real impression that the written word often cannot. However, first-hand observation of a wide range of careers can be difficult. Many are unaware of the diversity of chemistry-related careers. This issue highlights the American Chemical Society’s theme for National Chemistry Week (NCW) 2007, “The Many Faces of Chemistry”. Our goal is to introduce you and your students to some of these “faces”. A major feature of our NCW coverage is a series of thirteen career profiles and one related profile (p 1562). We contacted people we knew, people that were suggested to us, and people we read about. Each author responded to the same set of interview questions, and shared his or her own career journey, as well as wisdom and advice. Each profile also contains a “Related Resources” box with articles that either provide additional information about the chosen career, or describe an experiment or activity that would allow a student to experience a bit of that career. Thank you to everyone that helped bring this series together. In the “From Past Issues” feature, Williams (p 1587) discusses two careers that were part of a similar JCE career series over 70 years ago. It’s interesting to see how much careers have (or haven’t) changed. Arts can be a part of the sciences as well (and vice versa). Uffelman (p 1617) describes the work of art conservationists and the chemistry-based techniques they use. He relates each technique to a specific 17th century Dutch painting. Color fig
Secondary School Featured Articles ◭ JCE Classroom Activity: #92. Testing for Iodide in Table Salt by Stephen W. Wright, p1616A. ◭ Chemistry, Poetry, and Artistic Illlustration: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Teaching and Promoting Chemistry by Ping Y. Furlan, Herbert Kitson, and Cynthia Andes, p 1625. ◭ Creating Customized, Relevant, and Engaging Laboratory Safety Videos by Michael L. Matson, Jeffrey P. Fitzgerald, Shirley Lin, p 1727.
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ures show both far and close-up views of each painting. Furlan, Hitson, and Andes (p 1625) describe how they use poetry and artistic illustrations in general chemistry classes. They share several students’ poems and discuss how the exercise allows students an extra way to show that they understand the concepts from class. The resulting poster illustrations are displayed at their school to promote a positive view of chemistry.
Laura’s Take on the Issue Students tend to ask many of the same questions each year. The one that often challenges me the most is, “When will I ever use this?” or “Why do I need to know this?” Like each of you, I have various responses that I reuse every year. However, as the year wears on and these questions continue, I find myself saying something like, “It is part of the curriculum.” That response is the one my students dislike the most and once it is out of my mouth, I always wonder why I just responded that way. Is it because we get tired of the same questions over and over again or is it because we want, or expect, them to have a greater passion for chemistry? I think it may be for both reasons. However, as I was brainstorming a new fall research project, I thought of a way to help students find their own response, that also uses this year’s NCW theme. First, each student would pick a career of interest to them and find one or more ways that it connects to chemistry. Each student will then write two paragraphs: one about the chosen career and one about its connections to chemistry. They would also complete an annotated bibliography to support the chemistry connections they found in their research. I smiled as I read through Erica’s JCE Resources for Chemistry and Careers (p 1595) and thought about how “easy” she may have just made this assignment for my students. However, as I consider this more, I realized that Erica had done for me, what we want to be able to do for all high school chemistry teachers—she helped me. Her article will facilitate the research aspect of this project and help me to point my students in valuable directions. This project will also allow my students to take advantage of all of my copies of the Journal that I will move to the school for a few weeks this fall.
www.JCE.DivCHED.org • Vol. 84 No. 10 October 2007 • Journal of Chemical Education 1561
