My young children view this as normal. They like to help with Mom's "chemistry experiments", as I refer to them. They pour water into the funnels. They try out the bath bubblers in their evening bath. They are used to seeing ordinary household items used for something new, for something that is science. We talk about what we see. Without any explicit teaching from me or the use of specialized vocabulary, they make observations and in their own way, learn that chemistry is all around them. A surrounding environment of chemistry and the sharing of real world objects that connect to science can play a large role in helping students (or anyone!) relate to chemistry and its concepts. It happens in my kitchen. It happens in your classroom.

The beauty of National Chemistry Week (NCW) is that it provides an incredibly easy way to surround students with chemistry that is related to familiar, everyday items and ideas. The American Chemical Society chooses themes that make connection to the real world as trouble-free as possible. The theme for October 17–23, 2004 is "Health and Wellness"; the 2005 theme is "The Joy of Toys". (Have a submission idea with toys? Now is the time to start working on it!) JCE offers an issue dedicated to educator resources that connect NCW to multiple parts of your curriculum.

Several articles in this issue link chemistry to items from the natural world. Share some of the unusual details from these articles with your students—the articles provide an interesting answer to a parent's dinner table question "What did you learn in school today?" Heinhorst and Cannon paint an unusual picture in their discussion of hippo "sweat".This initially colorless secretion eventually changes color to red and then brown, and probably functions as a natural sunscreen. King reports on research that indicates that salsa juice may help in the battle against food-borne illnesses caused by Salmonella. Vollmer and Rosenson provide information about the chemistry of St. John's wort, a popular herbal remedy, and mention that it is used as a "mood enhancer" in some soft drinks.

Take a class period to go hands-on with JCE Classroom Activities. This month's Activity "Calories—Who's Counting?" ties calorimetry concepts together with an investigation of different types of food molecules. Students determine how many calories are released per gram when cashews and marshmallows burn underneath a metal soft drink can containing water by measuring the resulting change in the water temperature. November's Activity "A Magnetic Meal", an investigation of the iron in breakfast cereal, will be available on JCE Online before it is available in print, for use during October's NCW.

Need even more great ideas? Look to past issues of JCE. This year's NCW resource paper provides descriptions of more than 40 resources that tie in with the health and wellness theme. The full text of each of the resources is available on JCE Online. Lightle, from the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Mathematics and Science Education, and Kessler, from the Education Division of the American Chemical Society, share online resources useful for K-12 teachers.

Laura, a high school teacher quoted in the chemical education research paper by Roehrig and Luft, states "If I asked my students who wants to learn how to titrate I would get no takers. However, if I couch it in a real-life problem about the water you drink, or swim in, you can hook them in." NCW provides an opportunity to use that "hook"—don't miss out.

New JCE Classroom Activities Co-Editor

The Madison editorial office welcomes Julie Cunningham as the new JCE Classroom Activities co-editor. Julie has assisted with Activity testing, research and writing, reviewing manuscripts, and working on Activity photographs since the September 2004 Activity. Her participation will continue as she returns to teach chemistry and biology at Lake Mills High School in Lake Mills, Wisconsin. This year marks her eighth year of teaching.

Literature Cited

1. Bartholow, Martin. Determining Rate of Flow through a Funnel. J. Chem. Educ. 2004, 81, 672A.
2. Harris, Mary E.; Walker, Barbara. Bath Bubblers. J. Chem. Educ. 2003, 80, 1416A.