Chemical Education Today
Reports from Other Journals
The Science Teacher: Spring 2007 by Steve Long
The Science Teacher, the high school journal of the National Science Teachers Association, has published several chemistry articles of possible interest to this Journal’s readers. These articles cover the topics of the collapsing can demonstration, eye and face safety, periodicity, art and chemistry, liquid crystals, and carbon (fullerene) chemistry. In addition, inquiry-based instruction, project-based learning, and interdisciplinary learning are pedagogical techniques addressed. These articles are found in TST issues from April/May 2006 through December 2006. Collapsing Can Demonstration The classic collapsing can demonstration, which allows observers to visualize the power of air pressure, revisited in “Inquiry and the Collapsing Can”. Christopher Bauer describes his twist of applying inquiry learning to the demonstration so that it prompts questions rather than provides answers. After performing the demonstration with a 12 oz. aluminum drink can, Bauer invites students and adults to suggest variations that have included different sizes of containers, different temperatures of immersion water, and different methods of heating. A table with questions and variations is included. Through the years, several articles related to crushing various containers with pressure have appeared in this Journal. A Tested Demonstration in 1982 “Collapsing Can” describes Richard Sands’ technique (1). Brown and Battino describe using both plastic and metal containers in “Collapsing Containers” (2). The use of a larger container, a 20-L steel solvent drum, is the container of choice in “A More Dramatic Container to Crush by Atmospheric Pressure” (3). Safety Jim Kaufman highlights the emphasis on safety in his recent article, “Eye and Face Protection in School Science”. In his characteristic fashion, Kaufman explains the pertinent regulations and standards for eye and face protection including the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) 29CRF1910.133 standard and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z-87.1-1989-1998R standard. Kaufman includes an understandable explanation of the OSHA eye and face protection standard and misconceptions about the ANSI Z-87.1 standard. In addition, the article includes sections on contact lenses, eyewash fountains, and portable shields. Kaufman concludes the article with a suggested eye and face protection policy that he recommends for academic institutions and other employers. Of course, this Journal has a long history of emphasizing personal safety. “Safety Showers and Eyewash Fountains” by John Bronaugh in 1989 (4), “The Selection of Eyewash Stations for Laboratory Use” by Walters and colleagues in 1988 (5), and an early article by Kaufman, “Laboratory Safety Guidelines: 40 Steps for a 582
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Safer Laboratory” (6) all give a historical perspective on eye and face safety. Periodicity “Periodic Table of Cereal Boxes” may capture your attention as one of two articles on periodicity. Vicki Volpe uses different cereal box fronts (about 110) donated by students as an introduction to the organization of the periodic table. Students divide the cereals into categories based on cereal composition and then refine them into 18 categories representing the 18 vertical families. The goal of the activity was to “…duplicate the organizational thinking behind the periodic table, not its shape.” Another variation on periodicity suggested by Lisa Wallingford uses paint chip samples from a hardware or paint store. In “The Paint Chip Lab”, Wallingford provides instructions on organizing and conducting a lab activity with the paint chips to help students learn elemental organization and chemical periodicity. A similar activity for demonstrating periodicity with a deck of playing cards published in JCE in 1950 was “Periodicity” by J. A. Maxwell (7). A more elaborate activity with additional details and greater emphasis on chemical periodicity is Emeric Schultz’s JCE article, “Fully Exploiting the Potential of the Periodic Table through Pattern Recognition” (8). Chemistry and Art In “Artist as Chemist”, the authors believe “students link art and chemistry through problem-based learning activities”. This article describes a five-week unit produced as a part of a National Science Foundation-funded curriculum project. In the unit, students learn chemistry by performing eight activities (summarized in a table) that incorporate inquiry and problem-based learning strategies. Various sections in the unit use the “7E” model of student learning. The authors (Arthur Eisenkraft, Carl Heltzel, Diane Johnson, and Brian Radcliffe) emphasize the changes students observe in each activity, focusing on both the macro and nano levels as well as the symbolic representations of the changes. Students create a piece of artwork as the culmination of the five-week unit using content learned and explaining the chemistry involved. A rubric is provided to assist instructors with scoring student work. In conclusion the authors state, “they [students] become artists because of their chemistry knowledge in much the same way that they realize that all artists have become chemists as a necessary component of their need to understand materials and their interactions”. The recent JCE article “The Chemistry of Art and the Art of Chemistry” (9) focuses on the area of painting and the mixing of salt solutions to use as colored pigments. The article also includes interdisciplinary and inquiry learning methods. Another colorful student activity is the JCE Classroom Activity “Cooking Up Colors from Plants, Fabric, and Metal” (10) where students dye fabric using tea and marigold flower extracts. These colored fabrics could be
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Chemical Education Today
incorporated into an art project. “Chemistry, Color, and Art” by Mary Virginia Orna (11) describes artist’s colors from antiquity to present. A valuable resource is the annotated bibliography “JCE Resources for Chemistry and Art” compiled by Erica Jacobsen (12). The article highlights the best of art and chemistry in many different art media from past issues of JCE in the 2001 celebration of National Chemistry Week’s theme, Celebrating Chemistry and Art. Liquid Crystals “Fats, Oils, and Colors of a Nanoscale Material” by George Lisensky and colleagues uses liquid crystals as a vehicle for studying phase changes and intermolecular forces. In the article, “students explore the effect that the nanoscale size and shape of molecules have on the macroscopic phase properties of a series of liquid crystals”. Included in the article are two sets of suggested questions and activities: investigating connections between molecular shape and melting points of fats and oils and the application of this knowledge to liquid crystals. Numerous tables and diagrams are found in the article including physical data on both saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, melting point trends, liquid crystal compositions, and diagrams of fatty acids and liquid crystals. The authors also include an activity on liquid crystal sensors. Also included are the answers and concepts the students should gain from answering the student questions and activities. Additional information on liquid crystals can be gained from the JCE article “Synthesis and Physical Properties of Liquid Crystals: An Interdisciplinary Experiment” (13). The article includes curricular connections, experimental procedures, hazards, sample student results, assessment, and online supplemental materials. In a JCE Classroom Activity, “Colors in Liquid Crystals” (14), Lisensky and Boatman provide information on investigating temperature and the color of a liquid crystal material to both students and teachers.
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Literature Cited 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18.
Sands, R. J. Chem. Educ. 1982, 59, 866. Brown, J.; Battino, R. J. Chem. Educ. 1994, 71, 514–515. Meyers, R.; Yee, G. J. Chem. Educ. 1999, 76, 933. Bronaugh, J. J. Chem. Educ. 1989, 66, A18. Walters, D.; Stricoff, R.; Ashley, L. J. Chem. Educ. 1998, 65, A199–A203. Kaufman, J. J. Chem. Educ. 1987, 64, 161–162. Maxwell, J. J. Chem. Educ. 1950, 27, 510–511. Schultz, E. J. Chem. Educ. 2005, 82, 1649–1657. Kafetzopoulos, C.; Spyrellis, N.; Lymperopoulou-Karaliota, A. J. Chem. Educ. 2006, 83, 1484–1488. Mihalick, J.; Donnelly, K. J. Chem. Educ. 2007, 84, 96A–96B. Orna, M. J. Chem. Educ. 2001, 78, 1305–1311. Jacobsen, E. K. J. Chem. Educ. 2001, 78, 1316–1321. Van Hecke, G.; Karukstis, K.; Li, H.; Hendargo, H.; Cosand, A.; Fox, M. J. Chem. Educ. 2005, 82, 1349–1354. Lisensky, G.; Boatman, E. J. Chem. Educ. 2005, 82, 1360A– 1360B. Iacoe, D.; Potter, W.; Tetters, D. J. Chem. Educ. 1992, 69, 663. Beaton, J. J. Chem. Educ. 1995, 72, 863–869. Campbell, D.; Korte, K.; McCann, J.; Xia, Y.; Haworth, D.; Bartelt, M. J. Chem. Educ. 2006, 83, 1511–1514. York, A. J. Chem. Educ. 2004, 81, 673–676.
Steve Long teaches at Rogers High School, Rogers, AR 72756;
[email protected].
Inquiry and the Collapsing Can by Christopher Bauer. TST 2006, 73 (4), 62–63. Eye and Face Protection in School Science by Jim Kaufman.
TST 2006, 73 (5), 26–29. Periodic Table of Cereal Boxes by Vicki Volpe. TST 2006, 73 (5), 52. The Paint Chip Lab by Lisa Wallingford. TST 2006, 73 (5), 52–54. Artist as Chemist by Arthur Eisenkraft, Carl Heltzel, Diane Johnson, and Brian Radcliffe. TST 2006, 73 (8), 33–37. Fats, Oils, and Colors of a Nanoscale Material by George C. Lisensky, Dana Horoszewski, Kenneth L. Gentry, Greta M. Zenner, and Wendy C. Crone. TST 2006, 73 (9), 30–35. The Structures and Properties of Carbon by Olivia M. Castellini, George C. Lisensky, Jennifer Ehrlich, Greta M. Zenner, and Wendy C. Crone. TST 2006, 73 (9), 36–41.
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TST Featured Articles
Carbon Two new allotropes of carbon—buckyballs and carbon nanotubes (CNTs)—are the highlight of “The Structures and Properties of Carbon.” This article includes a discussion and comparison of the structure, formation, and history of the allotropes of carbon with emphasis on buckyballs and CNTs. Sidebars on the manufacture and applications of CNTs are included. Also, two activities for demonstrating the structure and properties of CNTs using chicken-wire models are described. Additional information on CNT activities keyed to National Science Content Standards and a Web site concerning nanoscale carbon and other nanotechnology topics are listed. A 1992 JCE article, “Simple Generation of C60 (Buckminsterfullerene)” (15), provides the basics for synthesizing buckyball compounds. Paper models for various fullerenes are supplied in the JCE article “Paper Models for Fullerenes C60– C84” (16). A demonstration of carbon nanotubes is detailed in “Classroom-Scale Demonstrations Using Flash Ignition of Carbon Nanotubes” (17). The use of a camera flash triggers the ignition of single-walled carbon nanotubes. The article provides the materials and procedures for conducting this dem-
onstration. Additional information on fullerenes can be obtained from “Inorganic Fullerenes, Onions, and Tubes” (18).
