Journal of Chemical Education

Using the Web To Teach Critical Thinking

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Editorial
John W. Moore
The Web is a powerful tool. Like all powerful tools it can be used for good, for not-so-good, and for downright bad purposes. Examples of the last surface every so often, such as false biographical information planted in Wikipedia and destruction of…

Having a Ball with Chemistry

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Especially for High School Teachers
Erica K. Jacobsen
The WonderLab Museum in Bloomington, IN was alive with movement and sound. Limber bodies snaked up a two-story maze called the “Grapevine Climber” to arrive triumphantly at the top. Massive soap bubbles burst, showering heads with a misty spray. Cheers and applause broke out as the centerpiece of…

Research Advances: Using Geography to Increase Hemoglobin Levels; NO Levels and Exercise; Better Method for Steroid Detection

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

National Chemistry Week 2008. Reports from Other Journals: Research Advances
Angela G. King
Reactive DESI detects steroids. Measuring the effect of altitude on athletes. NO exercise levels…

May the Best Chemist Win!

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

National Chemistry Week 2008: From Past Issues
Kathryn R. Williams
In recognition of the National Chemistry Week theme, this From Past Issues looks at the relationship of sports to chemistry. A 2002 article gives numerous examples of the importance of synthetic chemicals and composites in sports equipment and sports medicine. Earlier papers have shown how sports and games can be applied…

High Performance Chemistry: Scientists in the Fast Lane

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

National Chemistry Week 2008. Report
Timothy Ruppel and Joseph Turpin
Today, scientists-in-training might dream of researching the latest medical breakthroughs or solving the puzzle of a murder as a crime scene investigator. Many, as the authors will attest, might not even realize that "gearheads" and "techies" have joined to create another potential path for a…

Modern Sport and Chemistry: What a Golf Fanatic Should Know

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

National Chemistry Week 2008. Report
Scott E. McKay, Timothy Robbins, and Renée S. Cole
Advances in the chemical and material sciences have made a dramatic impact on sporting events over the past several decades. In this paper, we focus on the game of gold and provide some of the chemicals and materials involved in these advances with the intention of providing a mechanism to interest…

Polymers in the Field and Track

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

National Chemistry Week 2008. Report
Mary E. Harris
About a year ago, trucks delivered ton after ton of polymers to my school. No, our chemical order had not gone awry. Instead, the materials were part of a large construction project on campus—the athletic field. The old, grass athletic field was going to be replaced with artificial turf…

Impact of Polymers in Impact Sports

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

National Chemistry Week 2008. Report
Sandy Van Natta and John P. Williams
With impacts (sudden blows) an increasing aspect of many sports, ever more effort is being put into developing modern body armor (protective equipment) using various types and forms of polymers. This article describes some aspects of the design and testing of helmets. A helmet's outer shell provides the impact resistance to…

JCE Resources for Chemistry and Sports

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

National Chemistry Week 2008: Having a Ball with Chemistry
Erica K. Jacobsen
This annotated bibliography collects the best that past issues of JCE have to offer for use with the 2008 National Chemistry Week theme, "Having a Ball with Chemistry". Each item has been characterized as an activity, calculation, demonstration, experiment, informational, or JCE Featured Molecules item…

News from Online: The Chemistry of Sports

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

National Chemistry Week 2008. Reports from Other Journals: News from Online
Janice Hall Tomasik
A collection of chemistry-related sports online resources is presented. Sources discuss a variety of topics, including the recent nanotechnology advances that improve sports equipment, and the athlete's nutrition and metabolism…

National Chemistry Week

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

JCE Concept Connections
JCE Editorial Staff
A wealth of materials for teaching and learning chemistry! That’s what JCE offers you. Explore print issues or go to our Web site, JCE Online (http://www.jce.divched.org). Here are some JCE resources for celebrating National Chemistry Week (NCW)—or to use at…

Chemistry in a Global Economy-An Education Agenda

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

ACS Presidential Election
Joseph S. Francisco
This article is a statement on education by Joseph S. Francisco, a candidate to be President-Elect of the American Chemical Society in 2009…

Education as a Top Priority for the American Chemical Society

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

ACS Presidential Election
Josef Michl
This article is a statement on education by Josef Michl, a candidate to be President-Elect of the American Chemical Society in 2009…

Paraffin

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

CLIP, Chemical Laboratory Information Profile
Jay A. Young
Safe handling of paraffin is discussed…

Starch

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

CLIP, Chemical Laboratory Information Profile
Jay A. Young
Safe handling of starch is discussed…

News & Announcements

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

JCE news and announcements for this month.

A Soap-Making Suggestion

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Letters
Ben Ruekberg
Soap-making procedures for student laboratories, such as those recently published in this Journal, generally involve a filtration step. Unfortunately, the reaction mixture tends to clog the filter paper in the Büchner funnel. A plastic scrubbing sheet, Scotch-Brite or…

Oven versus Bunsen Burner When Heating Copper(II) Chloride Dihydrate

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Letters
Michael C. Wirtz
I enjoyed reading Klingshirn et al.’s article on “greening up” the classical stoichiometry experiment where students determine the formula of a hydrate. However there is an additional important point to be made on safety in the suggested variation. In adopting…

New Book about Writing Skills for Students

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Letters
Don Paulson
I enjoyed reading the article “Using the ACS Journals Search To Validate Assumptions about Writing in Chemistry and Improve Chemistry Writing Instruction” by Robinson, Stoller, and Jones in this Journal. I want to point out that these…

Manual Data Processing in Analytical Chemistry: Linear Calibration

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Letters
Dora Melucci
Most current analytical textbooks describe the statistical concepts and formulas on which data processing in analytical chemistry is based. Classical univariate statistics provides well-established equations that thoroughly deal with these issues. Most science students are familiar…

Using Graphics Calculators and Spreadsheets in Chemistry: Solving Equilibrium Problems

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Letters
Kieran F. Lim ()

Solving equilibrium problems is a standard part of the chemistry curriculum…

The Information Page

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

The most recent contact and technical information about JCE.

Introduction to Molecular Thermodynamics (Robert M. Hanson and Susan Green)

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Book & Media Reviews
Hal Harris
This textbook was written for the second semester of an introductory chemistry sequence at an institution like St. Olaf College, where the authors teach. I wish we could accommodate material of this kind in our course, but like most general chemistry offerings, there just isn’t room for this much…

Advertising in This Issue

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

A list of current advertisers in JCE.

Out of the Editor's Basket

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Information (press releases) on selected products are collected. Links to the WWW sites of the product manufacturers can be found in the Advertiser's Index for three months after the month of publication…

Drawing Attention with Chemistry Cartoons

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Herbert W. Roesky and Dietmar Kennepohl
Cartoons are part of a much larger effort by chemical educators to introduce activities to enhance learning and student participation. There are a variety of cartoon types used in teaching that have been evaluated and discussed within the chemical education community including caricatures, comics, and concept cartoons. This article focuses on…

Now I Get It!

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

JCE Concept Connections
JCE offers a wealth of materials for teaching and learning chemistry that you can explore at our Web site JCE Online. In addition, all articles from Volume 1 to the current issue are available in full-text PDF at JCE Online. Below…

Meet the Molecules in Chocolate: Informal Opportunities for Building Thematic Molecular Models with Children

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Jennifer R. Amey, Matthew D. Fletcher, Rachael V. Fletcher, Alison Jones, Erica W. Roberts, and Ieuan O. Roberts
We describe the development and use of a molecular model building activity with a chocolate theme, suitable for a public presentation of chemistry through interaction with visitors to science festivals and museums, and as a special classroom activity during science weeks, and so forth…

The Role of Chemistry Museums in Chemical Education for Students and the General Public. A Case Study from Italy

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Valentina Domenici
This paper investigates the educational role of museums of chemistry in presenting chemistry to the public in Italy, particularly to students. The activities carried out by Italian museums and scientific collections completely dedicated to chemistry have been analyzed, focusing on the relationship between these institutions and students with different level of…

A Chemistry Minute: Recognizing Chemistry in Our Daily Lives

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Dianne J. Luning Prak and Christine L. Copper
Students in introductory chemistry classes often wonder about the relevance of chemistry to their daily lives. We have sought to increase their awareness by requiring each student in first- and second-semester general chemistry to make a two-minute presentation on a chemistry-related topic. This exercise gives students an opportunity…

Elemental Chem Lab

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Antonio Joaquin Franco Mariscal
This educative material uses the symbols of 45 elements to spell the names of 32 types of laboratory equipment usually found in chemical labs. This teaching material has been divided into three puzzles according to the type of the laboratory equipment: (i) glassware as reaction vessels or containers; (ii) glassware for…

Teaching Avogadro's Hypothesis and Helping Students to See the World Differently

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

View from My Classroom
Brett Criswell
Within the historical context of the development of chemistry, Avogadro's hypothesis represents a fundamental concept: It allowed Avogadro to explain Gay–Lussac's law of combining volumes and it allowed Cannizzaro to establish a more accurate set of atomic mass values. If students are going to understand the concept of relative…

[# 98] That's the Way the Ball Bounces (or Is It?)

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

JCE Classroom Activity
Erica K. Jacobsen
Balls used in different sports are made up of various materials, or even combinations of materials, depending on what the ball is designed to do. For example, golfers might desire a ball that travels as far as possible on an opening drive. Golf balls were originally constructed with materials such as…

Polymeric, Metallic and Other Glasses in Introductory Chemistry

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Stephen J. Hawkes
Polymeric, metallic, and other glasses and their importance are described suitably for introductory chemistry…

Demonstration Extension: Copper-to-Silver-to-Gold Penny Demonstration

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

JCE DigiDemos: Extensions
Ed Vitz
This demonstration, if done in the original way, can lead to fires in waste containers (sometimes in the middle of the night after the experiment has been conducted), because pyrophoric zinc is generated by suspending powdered zinc in hot sodium hydroxide. This is avoided by using…

New Observations on the Copper-to-Silver-to-Gold Demonstration

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

JCE DigiDemos: Extensions
Dorin Bejan, Jeff Hastie, and Nigel J. Bunce
The demonstration in which a copper penny is converted first to "silver" and then to "gold" involves, as the first step, the deposition of zinc onto copper in hot NaOH solution. The reaction involves an electrochemical cell, with the deposition of zinc in the form of a surface layer of the…

A Dramatic Classroom Demonstration of Limiting Reagent Using the Vinegar and Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate Reaction

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

JCE DigiDemos: Tested Demonstrations
Romklao Artdej and Tienthong Thongpanchang
This demonstration is designed to illustrate the concept of limiting reagent in a spectacular way. Via a series of experiments where the amount of vinegar is fixed and the amount of NaHCO₃ is gradually increased, the volume of CO₂ generated from the reaction varies corresponding…

Fog Machines, Vapors, and Phase Diagrams

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

JCE DigiDemos: Tested Demonstrations
Ed Vitz
A series of demonstrations is described that elucidate the operation of commercial fog machines by using common laboratory equipment and supplies. The formation of fogs, or "mixing clouds", is discussed in terms of the phase diagram for water and other chemical principles. The demonstrations can be adapted for presentation suitable for…

On Capillary Rise and Nucleation

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

R. Prasad
A comparison of capillary rise and nucleation is presented. It is shown that both phenomena result from a balance between two competing energy factors: a volume energy and a surface energy. Such a comparison may help to introduce nucleation with a topic familiar to the students, capillary rise…

Writing Across the Semester: A Non-Standard Term Paper That Encourages Critical Data Analysis in the Upper-Division Chemistry Classroom

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Jennifer Whiles Lillig
Scientific literacy is an important fundamental skill for scientists. In order for students to improve their writing they require constant feedback throughout the process. They also need to learn the value of the peer review process by experience. Although they may require submission of a rough draft, typical upper-division writing…

The Effect of LearnStar on Student Performance in Introductory Chemistry

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

First-Year Chemistry
Kent A. Chambers and Bob Blake
This study focuses on the effect of using a computer-based competitive learning system called LearnStar, as supplementary instruction in introductory chemistry courses. The outcomes evaluated were of student performance on classroom exams, the cumulative final, overall course grade, overall DFW rate (the percentage of student receiving a D, F, or…

Optimizing the Use of Personal Response Devices (Clickers) in Large-Enrollment Introductory Courses

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Teaching with Technology
Klaus Woelk
Clickers are electronic response devices with which a student can remotely submit responses to questions or problems posed by a teacher. The problems are typically true-false or multiple-choice questions, but can also include numerical problems. Clicker devices are particularly popular in large-enrollment introductory science, technology, engineering, and mathematics…

Development of a Nanomaterials One-Week Intersession Course

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Keith A. Walters and Heather A. Bullen
A novel one-week intersession lecture–lab hybrid course on nanomaterials is presented. The course provided a combination of background theory and hands-on laboratory experiments to educate students about nanomaterials and nanotechnology. The design of the course, subject matter, and laboratory experiments are discussed. Topics and level were chosen…

A Service-Learning Project Based on a Research Supportive Curriculum Format in the General Chemistry Laboratory

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

John H. Kalivas
This article describes a two-semester general chemistry laboratory teaching approach to assist students in gaining experience with science-process skills. The ultimate goal is successful completion of a second-semester service-learning project requiring use of their newly developed science-process skills. The project entails creating an interactive concept-discovery…

Magnetized Water: Science or Fraud?

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

L. Lahuerta Zamora, G. M. Antón-Fos, P. A. Alemán López, and R. V. Martin Algarra
Skepticism is one of the cornerstones of scientific learning. Some pseudosciences in domains such as astronomy or pharmacy use a host of issues in everyday life as pretexts for work in the classroom (e.g., astrology) or laboratory (e.g., homeopathy). Chemistry also offers opportunities to promote sceptical thinking in students. Commercial devices…

Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers in Dryer Lint. An Advanced Analysis Laboratory

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Robert Q. Thompson
An advanced analytical chemistry laboratory experiment is described that involves environmental analysis and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Students analyze lint from clothes dryers for traces of flame retardant chemicals, polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs), compounds receiving much attention recently. In a typical experiment, ng/g levels of three PBDE congeners (#47, #99…

Quantitative Analysis of Nail Polish Remover Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Revisited

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Markus M. Hoffmann, Joshua T. Caccamis, Mark P. Heitz, and Kenneth D. Schlecht
Substantial modifications are presented for a previously described experiment using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to quantitatively determine analytes in commercial nail polish remover. The revised experiment is intended for a second- or third-year laboratory course in analytical chemistry and can be conducted for larger laboratory section enrollments. The experiment…

Synthesis of the Commercial Antidepressant Moclobemide

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Jesse D. More
An experiment for the undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory is described in which students synthesize the commercial antidepressant drug moclobemide,marketed under the trade name Manerix. This one-step synthesis starts from commercially available material and produces moclobemide in high yield. The product is initially isolated as its hydrochloride salt via precipitation…

A Green, Guided-Inquiry Based Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution for the Organic Chemistry Laboratory

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Green Chemistry
Eric Eby and S. Todd Deal
We developed an alternative electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction for the organic chemistry teaching laboratory. The experiment is an electrophilic iodination reaction of salicylamide, a popular analgesic, using environmentally friendly reagents—sodium iodide and household bleach. Further, we designed the lab as a guided-inquiry experiment, asking the students first to…

The Electrochemical Synthesis of Transition-Metal Acetylacetonates

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

S. R. Long, S. R. Browning, and J. J. Lagowski
The electrochemical synthesis of transition-metal acetylacetonates described here can form the basis of assisting in the transformation of an entry-level laboratory course into a research-like environment where all members of a class are working on the same problem, but where each member has a personal responsibility for the…

Representing Fractional Distributions in Chemistry

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Addison Ault
Many phenomena in chemistry involve fractional distributions. Sometimes it is a chemical substance that is fractionally distributed, other times it is a chemical process that is fractionally distributed. The purpose of this paper is to present a common approach to the representation of all fractional distributions. Using a common approach provides…

Modifying and Validating the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey for Use in Chemistry

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Chemical Education Research
Jack Barbera, Wendy K. Adams, Carl E. Wieman, and Katherine K. Perkins
The chemistry version of the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS-Chem) is a new instrument designed to measure students' (novices') beliefs about chemistry and learning chemistry compared to those of experts (instructors). This survey is intended to measure the effects of students' beliefs on learning, and to understand how…

Survey Development

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Chemical Education Research Connections
Diane M. Bunce
These two articles help move chemical education research on survey development into a new era. This new era is characterized by two things: (i) a theoretical base outside the chemical education literature, and (ii) validity and reliability measures for instruments that have a…

Attitude toward Chemistry: A Semantic Differential Instrument for Assessing Curriculum Impacts

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Chemical Education Research
Christopher F. Bauer
The development of a 20-item semantic differential assessment instrument for measuring student attitudes toward the subject of chemistry is described (Attitude toward the Subject of Chemistry Inventory—ASCI). Instrument subscales and survey items pertain to interest and utility, anxiety, intellectual accessibility, emotional satisfaction, and fear. Detailed information on validity…

Use of Wikis in Chemistry Instruction for Problem-Based Learning Assignments: An Example in Instrumental Analysis

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Robert Clougherty and Mona Wells
Interactive Web sites where visitors can both read and write to pages, that is, wikis, have tremendous potential as an instructional technology. During a semester-long project in an instrumental analysis lab, students were required to develop an experiment that would utilize one specific instrument and demonstrate concepts governing function and…

Accessing and Managing Scientific Literature: Using RSS in the Classroom

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

Chemical Information Instructor
Laura E. Pence and Harry E. Pence
RSS, Really Simple Syndication, is a Web feature that allows for a wide variety of content from Web sites, blogs, or other sources to be collected by a reader and organized onto a single Web page, creating a personalized information space. This powerful function may be used effectively in the classroom…

Today’s Science for Tomorrow’s Scientists. A New Digital Collection Bringing Cutting-Edge Science for Middle and High School Students

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

JCE TSTS: Today's Science for Tomorrow's Scientists
Caroline Pharr
Is your research group doing exciting work? Would you like to broaden the impact of your research by making it available to middle school students, high school students, and the general public? Today’s Science for Tomorrow’s Scientists (TSTS) is an interactive Web site that allows you to…

Organometallic Chemistry: Development and Study of Catalytic Activity

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

JCE TSTS: Today's Science for Tomorrow's Scientists
Caroline R. Pharr and Shannon Stahl
This Today’s Science for Tomorrow’s Scientists (TSTS) tutorial introduces current scientific research from Shannon Stahl’s group at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Stahl’s group works on the development and investigation of new catalysts for the selective oxidation of organic substances by molecular…

Organic Chemistry: Synthesis and Study of Reactive Intermediates Found in Interstellar Space

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

JCE TSTS: Today's Science for Tomorrow's Scientists
Caroline R. Pharr and Robert J. McMahon
This Today’s Science for Tomorrow’s Scientists (TSTS) tutorial introduces current scientific research from Robert McMahon’s group at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Researchers in McMahon’s group synthesize and study the structure, photochemistry, and spectroscopy of reactive organic molecules. Many of these molecules…

Bioorganic Chemistry: Designing Peptides with Defined Folding Properties

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

JCE TSTS: Today's Science for Tomorrow's Scientists
Caroline R. Pharr, Erik B. Hadley, and William C. Pomerantz
This Today’s Science for Tomorrow’s Scientists (TSTS) tutorial introduces current scientific research from Samuel Gellman’s group at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Researchers in Gellman’s group design molecules with well-defined folding properties. Short polymer chains of β-amino acids (β-peptides…

Molecular Models of Polymers Used in Sports Equipment

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:20:00 -0000

JCE Featured Molecules
William F. Coleman
In keeping with the 2008 National Chemistry Week theme of “Having a Ball with Chemistry”, the Featured Molecules this month are a number of monomers and their associated polymers taken from a paper by Sandy Van Natta and John P. Williams on polymers used in making equipment for a variety…