Write an Autobiography of an Element Naola VanOrden Sacramento City College, Sacramento, CA 95822 Would you like to wake up your students, get them interested in chemistrv. let them practice their writing skills, and provide a fun experience forthem-all in one assignment? Imagine you are student entering the general chemistry lecture hall on the first day of class. You walk hesitantly, looking around to see if there is anyone you know who might heln vou eet throueh this ordeal. You slide into a seat and g~ahcka t t h e chalkboard where you read in bold letters: "ASSIGNMENT hi 1: WRITE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN ELEMENT:,,YOU give a nervous laugh and then say to vourself. "Is someone twine to he funny? How can YOU write a self-biography of an-element?" At the beginning of class the instructor gives a brief explanation: "Pretend you are the element, and tell interesting things about yourself. Be as creative as you wish, but include actual facts about the element." Your puzzled look changes to a smile, "Hey, this will be fun . . . ." Now, image you are the instructor with a stack of student reports to read. You pick up the first paper, it begins, My name is Ferronius, but to common man 1am known as iron. Inthe world ofchem~stry,scientists use my Latin name "Fernlm" (Fe for short,. I how heen around tbr n very. lonp, .rime, and I am very proud of my ancient past. I am so important that an entire period of history was known as "the iron age" .. . . You relax and think, "This is going t o he interesting You select another paper,
. . . ."
Hi, mv ndme is Calcium. I liw o n second avenue, Apt #2U, in thecity of I'eriodicCharr. I'm apretty calm guy, compdred tom? next door neighbor. ~rutasrium.Fur example. I don't get burned up if someone splashes water on me. However, I am apt tosizzle if I'm doused with hot water. And if I fall into a pool of acid, I immediately give up two electrons and become an ion.. . . In the ion form I'm probably the most important element in your body. You are aware that I'm part of your bones and teeth, but did you know that I also am involved in nerve conduction? . . . You pick up another paper,
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I am Neon. the Great. I am a member of nobilitv with eieht electronsinmy valenee ihell. I want to keep my bloodlinr pure,so I dun7 react nithanv other elemmr. However, 1 must admit I am a bit attracted by that conlmonw. Fluorine . . . . You go to the refrigerator for a snack and then start reading the next paper: I am Titanium, Ti for short. Don't he misled by my puny size. I am as strong as steel, even though I'm less than half as dense. Because of my light weight and good strength, I'm great for aircraft and missiles. I can stand extremes in temperature, and I'm not corroded by sea water . . . .
You continue reading the reports
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Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am Two-Thirty-Eight Uranium. I'm guessing that you think I don't need an introduction because you already know all about me. Well, that's where you are wrong. You think all I do is make nuclear bombs. That's my twin brother, Two-Thirty-Five, I get so embarrassed when humans mistake me for him. I don't go around exploding. It's not even possible for me to fission, unless I get bombarded with neutrons and converted to my cousin, Plutonium. Although I am radioactive. I em verv stahle because mv half life is 4.5 X years. The heat that I produce when I give offan alpha particle is nhat k e e p the center of the earth molten . . . . And then a t the end of one report you find a postscript that makes your day (or rather your night): This was by far one of the most interesting assignments that I have had in a long time. I have learned a lot, and I am grateful to you. The narrative above describes my experience with my first assignment in General Chemistry 1A. This assignment evolved from years of attempting to find a way to get general chemistrv students to learn descrintive chemistrv of some of the elements. Then I stumbled dnto this solutibn; I found that even colleee chemistrv students eniov ~.o o r t u n i t v to - " an o. use their imagination. Durina the first lab period each student is assiened an e l e m e n t r ~explain t h a t t h e y are to find propertiesif their element that are unique and special, and then write a two- or three-page "autobiography"hat would he interesting enough for high school students to read. During the second laboratory period I have each student read part of his or her "autobiography" to the lab class memhers. The students have a chuckle. thevrelax. thev eet a good feeling toward one another, and they;emembersimething about the properties of a number of the elements. I then collect the papers, read them, make comments on the accuracy of the concepts (many Chemistry 1A students donot understand the difference between an element and its ions), and give each student a grade for effort. Then I return the paperswitb a further optional, extra-credit assignment: Re-write your paper. Use correct sentence construction, hut keep your interesting writing style. Type the final copy. These reports will he hound and put into the library under the title, "Autobiographies of the Chemical Elements". Most of the students do re-write their papers for "publication". And I find. even thoueh I do not attempt to teach "English", the grammar andsentence construction of the second draft is much better than that of the first draft. After I collect all the papers, I give each student a copy of the autobiographies written by memhers of their class. Althoueh the students will not voiuntarily read the "properties b f elements" section in their textbooks, they will read these "autobiographies".
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Volume 65
Number 11
November 1988
995
