Resources To Inform Teaching and Learning
The April 2017 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online(link is external) to subscribers. Topics featured in this issue include: green chemistry; environmental chemistry; using food chemistry to teach; 2016 Jame Bryant Award; development of important skills; chemical education research: assessment; advanced laboratories; from the archives: water quality.
Green and Environmental Chemistry
Green Chemistry: Cover Feature
A student uses a calorimeter constructed from paper cups to measure the heat capacity of metals. In the laboratory experiment, "Greening" a Familiar General Chemistry Experiment: Coffee Cup Calorimetry to Determine the Enthalpy of Neutralization of an Acid–Base Reaction and the Specific Heat Capacity of Metals(link is external), A. M. R. P. Bopegedera and K. Nishanthi R. Perera demonstrate that with slight modifications, paper-cup calorimetry is just as effective as styrofoam-cup calorimetry. Paper cups have an overall lower impact on the environment, providing an opportunity to discuss the principles of green chemistry within the first-year chemistry curriculum. Additional articles on green chemistry as well as environmental chemistry and water quality are available throughout this issue.
Green Chemistry
CO2 Dry Cleaning: A Benign Solvent Demonstration Accessible to K–8 Audiences(link is external) ~ Reuben Hudson, Henry M. Ackerman, Lindsay K. Gallo, Addison S. Gwinner, Anna Krauss, John D. Sears, Alexandra Bishop, Kristin N. Esdale, and Jeffrey L. Katz
Using Greener Gels To Explore Rheology(link is external) (making "slime" using green chemistry) ~ Brendan Garrett, Avtar S. Matharu, and Glenn A. Hurst
Greener Oxidation of Benzhydrol: Evaluating Three Oxidation Procedures in the Organic Laboratory(link is external) ~ Kelli S. Khuong
Synthesis of (3-Methoxycarbonyl)coumarin in an Ionic Liquid: An Advanced Undergraduate Project for Green Chemistry(link is external) ~ Pedro Verdía, Francisco Santamarta, and Emilia Tojo
Bringing Catalysis with Gold Nanoparticles in Green Solvents to Graduate Level Students(link is external) ~ Vikram Singh Raghuwanshi, Robert Wendt, Maeve O’Neill, Miguel Ochmann, Tirtha Som, Robert Fenger, Marie Mohrmann, Armin Hoell, and Klaus Rademann
Environmental Chemistry
Assessing Student Knowledge of Chemistry and Climate Science Concepts Associated with Climate Change: Resources To Inform Teaching and Learning(link is external) ~ Ashley Versprille, Adam Zabih, Thomas A. Holme, Lallie McKenzie, Peter Mahaffy, Brian Martin, and Marcy Towns
Project-Based Learning in Undergraduate Environmental Chemistry Laboratory: Using EPA Methods To Guide Student Method Development for Pesticide Quantitation(link is external) ~ Eric J. Davis, Steve Pauls, and Jonathan Dick
Learning Principal Component Analysis by Using Data from Air Quality Networks(link is external) ~ Luis Vicente Pérez-Arribas, María Eugenia León-González, and Noelia Rosales-Conrado
Gaining Hands-On Experience with Solid-State Photovoltaics through Constructing a Novel n-Si/CuS Solar Cell(link is external) ~ Zexun Jin, Yecheng Li, and Jimmy C. Yu
Using Food Chemistry To Teach
In a nod to this year’s ACS Chemists Celebrate Earth Day theme of “Chemistry Feeds the World”, Norbert Pienta explores some ideas about Teaching about Chemistry Related to Food(link is external) in the April editorial. (For more resources related to food and cooking from ChemEd X in honor of this theme, see Deanna Cullen’s recent blog post.)
For additional content in the April issue on food, see:
Engaging Students in Real-World Chemistry through Synthesis and Confirmation of Azo Dyes via Thin Layer Chromatography To Determine the Dyes Present in Everyday Foods and Beverages(link is external) ~ Kristi Tami, Anastasia Popova, and Gloria Proni
A Tasty Approach to Statistical Experimental Design in High School Chemistry: The Best Lemon Cake(link is external) ~ Lucia Liguori
Comment on “Analysis of Citric Acid in Beverages: Use of an Indicator Displacement Assay”(link is external) ~ Krzysiek Konski, Jessica Saw, and Angel A. J. Torriero
Commentary: 2016 ACS James Bryant Conant Award
The ACS James Bryant Conant Award recognizes high school teachers for using high-quality teaching methods, their ability to challenge and inspire students, their extracurricular work, and their willingness to work for continual improvement. (This award will be sponsored permanently by the Journal of Chemical Education and ChemEd X beginning in 2017.) In Teacher CEO(link is external), Deanna M. Cullen describes the 2016 awardee, Julia Winter of Michigan, and conducts a short video interview with her.
Development of Important Skills
The Chemistry Teaching Fellowship Program: Developing Curricula and Graduate Student Professionalism(link is external) ~ Kris S. Kim, Darius G. Rackus, Scott A. Mabury, Barbora Morra, and Andrew P. Dicks
The Coffee Project Revisited: Teaching Research Skills to Forensic Chemists(link is external) ~ Hilary J. Hamnett and Ann-Sophie Korb
Chemical Education Research: Assessment
What We Don’t Test: What an Analysis of Unreleased ACS Exam Items Reveals about Content Coverage in General Chemistry Assessments(link is external) ~ Jessica J. Reed, Sachel M. Villafañe, Jeffrey R. Raker, Thomas A. Holme, and Kristen L. Murphy
High Structure Active Learning Pedagogy for the Teaching of Organic Chemistry: Assessing the Impact on Academic Outcomes(link is external) ~ Michael T. Crimmins and Brooke Midkiff
Advanced Laboratories
Introducing Students to Inner Sphere Electron Transfer Concepts through Electrochemistry Studies in Diferrocene Mixed-Valence Systems(link is external) ~ Karen Ventura, Mark B. Smith, Jacob R. Prat, Lourdes E. Echegoyen, and Dino Villagrán
Anisotropic Rotational Diffusion Studied by Nuclear Spin Relaxation and Molecular Dynamics Simulation: An Undergraduate Physical Chemistry Laboratory(link is external) ~ Michael M. Fuson
Introducing Students to a Synthetic and Spectroscopic Study of the Free Radical Chlorine Dioxide(link is external) ~ Sarah C. Sutton, Walter E. Cleland, and Nathan I. Hammer
Fabrication of an Economical Arduino-Based Uniaxial Tensile Tester(link is external) ~ Julien H. Arrizabalaga, Aaron D. Simmons, and Matthias U. Nollert
From the Archives: Water Quality
Water quality is a critical environmental issue. This issue features two labs for students to explore how to filter water to make safe and clean drinking water:
Rapid Production of a Porous Cellulose Acetate Membrane for Water Filtration using Readily Available Chemicals(link is external) ~ Adrian Kaiser, Wendelin J. Stark, and Robert N. Grass (open access article available through the ACS AuthorChoice program)
Preparing and Testing a Magnetic Antimicrobial Silver Nanocomposite for Water Disinfection To Gain Experience at the Nanochemistry–Microbiology Interface(link is external) ~ Ping Y. Furlan, Adam J. Fisher, and Michael E. Melcer, Alexander Y. Furlan , John B. Warren
Enjoy access to a collection of articles, hands-on experiments, and demonstrations from past issues of Journal of Chemical Education on the topics of water properties and water in the environment as part of the Chemists Celebrate Earth Day 2014 “Wonders of Water”.(link is external)
Informing Teaching and Learning
With 94 volumes of the Journal of Chemical Education to inform teaching and learning, you will always find useful resources—including the articles mentioned above(link is external), and many more, in the Journal of Chemical Education(link is external). Articles that are edited and published online ahead of print (ASAP—As Soon As Publishable(link is external)) are also available.