News from Journal House

Help with Outreach

If you are planning outreach activities this spring or during the summer that are large or small in scope, at your home institution or at a meeting or conference, get in touch with the CHED Outreach Office. We can help you make your event a success by sending you a selection of pertinent and teacher-tested materials for your participants. In addition to free materials, there will be information that will enable the participants to get connected with what is going on in chemical education—for instance joining the Division of Chemical Education, getting information about the standardized tests from the Examinations Institute, receiving JCE in print and online, knowing about upcoming conferences, and learning about the Chemistry Teacher Connection (CTC is the new CHED affiliate membership–JCE special subscription combination that costs only $40/year and has a special JCE portal for high school teachers).

The Outreach Office can make your life easier and the event a success—just give us a lead time of about three weeks.

Awards Announced

Larry Peck Recipient of Two Awards

Larry Peck of the Department of Chemistry at Texas A & M University, College Station, TX, has recently received two awards.

Peck received the Skoog Cup Award, sponsored by the Howard Hughes Foundation. It is in recognition of his outstanding contributions to science education and was awarded by the Science Teacher’s Association of Texas at the annual Conference for the Advancement of Science Teachers (CAST). The Skoog Cup Award is presented to individuals in higher education who have made career-long contributions to science education at the local, state, or national level.

Peck also received the Southwest Regional ACS Award, presented each year at the Southwest Regional ACS meeting to an individual from a southwestern state in recognition of contributions to the advancement of chemistry, chemical engineering, chemical education, or the profession in general. The award was presented at the joint Southwest/Southeast Regional Meeting held in Memphis, TN, on November 3, 2005.

Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award

Julie Cunningham, chemistry teacher at Lake Mills High School, Lake Mills, WI, and an associate editor of the JCE Classroom Activities feature, is a 2005 winner of the Milken Family Foundation Award. Each of the 100 awardees from across the country receives a trip to Washington, DC, and a grant of $25,000. The Milken Award cannot be applied for and teachers cannot be nominated for it. The foundation searches for and selects the recipients from across the country. The award was created in 1985 to reward, retain, and attract the highest quality educators in kindergarten through high school.

Cunningham uses a hands-on inquiry method to teach her advanced chemistry class. She also tries to be a role model for young women going into the sciences. She taught at Clintonville High School in Clintonville, WI, before going to Lake Mills. She plans to pursue a master’s degree in the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s School of Education.

Award Deadlines

Call for Nominations, James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Teaching of Chemistry

Nominations are invited for the 2006 James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Teaching of Chemistry. The Norris Award, one of the oldest awards given by a Section of the American Chemical Society, is presented annually by the Northeastern Section. The Award consists of a certificate and an honorarium of $3,000.

Nominees must have served with special distinction as teachers of chemistry at any level: secondary school, college, and/or graduate school. Since 1951, awardees have included eminent and less widely-known but equally effective teachers at all levels. The awardee for 2005 was Morton Z. Hoffman of the Department of Chemistry of Boston University.

Nominations should focus on the candidate’s contributions to and effectiveness in teaching chemistry. The nominee’s curriculum vitae should be included. Seconding letters are also an important part of a nominating packet. These letters may show the impact of the nominee’s teaching in inspiring colleagues and students toward an active life in chemistry and/or related sciences, or may attest to the influence of the nominee’s other activities in chemical education, such as textbooks, journal articles, or other professional activity at the local or national level.

Materials should be 8 × 11 inches in size. The nomination packet should not exceed 30 pages and should not include books, reprints, or software. The deadline for nominations is April 15, 2006.

Please direct questions about the content of a nomination packet to Marietta Schwarz, University of Massachusetts–Boston. Get more information about the Norris Award (accessed Dec 2005).

Send nomination packets (either as hard copy or electronically in Adobe PDF format) to Marilou Cashman, NESACS, 23 Cottage Street, Natick, MA, 01760.

Courses, Seminars, Meetings, Opportunities

CHED Representation at ACS Regional Meetings

During 2006, the Division of Chemical Education will be represented at each ACS Regional Meeting by a Division volunteer who will have information available, usually at a table near or in the exhibits area. The lineup follows.

Western Regional Meeting: January 22–25, Anaheim, CA. Boyd Earl

Central Regional Meeting: May 16–20, Frankenmuth, MI. Morton Hoffman

Great Lakes Regional Meeting: May 31–June 2, Milwaukee, WI. Paul Charlesworth

Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting: June 4–7, Hershey, PA. Allene Johnson

Northwest Regional Meeting: June 25–28, Reno, NV. Richard Hermens

Northeast Regional Meeting: October 5–7, Binghamton, NY. Glenn Crosby

Rocky Mountain Regional Meeting: October 14–18, Tucson, AZ. Steve Wood

Southwest Regional Meeting: October 18–21, Houston, TX. Cheryl Frech

Midwest Regional Meeting: October 25–27, Quincy, IL. Paul Rillema

Southeast Regional Meeting: November 1–4, Augusta, GA. Carol White

2006 Schedule, Free NSF-Sponsored Workshops

The NSF-sponsored Center for Workshops in the Chemical Sciences (CWCS) announces its schedule of workshop for 2006. These week-long workshops are designed for faculty and staff with undergraduate instructional responsibilities at universities, colleges, and community colleges. Individuals who plan to embark on a career in college teaching (advanced graduate students and post-docs) are also welcome. The workshops are designed to provide a background and modern perspective on various topics in the chemical sciences along with methods to introduce these topics into the college curriculum. They all involve extensive hands-on activities. Registration, housing and a per diem for food are provided at no cost to participants. Some support might also be available to cover the cost of travel to the workshops. The workshops have a long history of engaging faculty in new areas and providing great support for enhancing the curriculum at a variety of institutions.

Workshop topics include:

• Environmental Chemistry
• Surface Analysis
• Chemistry of Art
• Modeling Biomolecules
• Forensic Science
• Molecular Genetics and Proteomics
• Advanced Functional Organic Materials
• Green Chemistry
• Teaching Guided-Inquiry Organic Chemistry Labs
• Practical Aspects of Process Analytical Chemistry

Hosting institutions include Beloit College, California State University at Fullerton, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, Hampton University, Jackson State University, James Madison University, Kettering University, Miami University of Ohio, Millersville University, Purdue University, University of California Irvine, University of California Riverside, University of Georgia, University of Hawaii at Hilo, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Oregon, University of Puerto Rico, Utah State University, Washington State University, Westminster College, Williams College, Wright State University, Dow Chemical, Eastman Chemical, Air Products.

Further information about CWCS, descriptions of individual workshops, and an application form are available online (accessed Dec 2005).

Materials Available

Polyhedral Representations of Structures

To simplify the visualization of complex chemical structures, coordination spheres are often represented by polyhedra in inorganic or solid state chemistry, environmental or soil science, or geology classes. To make those structures more understandable for students, a new implementation of the molecule viewer Jmol has been used to create a free Web site with interactive clay, mineral, and solid-state polyhedral models (accessed Dec 2005). More than 30 structures are represented—such as NaCl, ZnS, H₂O(s), rutile, perovksites, gibbsite, talc, muscovite, and quartz.

In addition, a new model kit using plastic polyhedra with connectors is currently undergoing class testing and will be available (at cost) in 2006. The kit can model sheets, layers, cages, and other unit cell structures and is being developed by the Institute for Chemical Education and the Material Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) on Nanostructured Interfaces at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Email for further information.

Proposal Deadlines National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) The following NSF deadlines have been established or are anticipated. Advanced Technology Education (ATE) Preliminary Proposals (2006) April 25, 2006 Full Proposals October 12, 2006 Course, Curriculum and Lab Improvement (CCLI) Full Proposals, Phase 2 and 3 January 24, 2006 Instructional Materials Development (IMD) Full Proposals March 13, 2006 Research on Gender in Science & Engineering (GSE) Full Proposals (Research) February 24, 2006 Full Proposals (Dissemination) April 24, 2006 Full Proposals (Extension Serv.) April 24, 2006 Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) Full Proposals February 24, 2006 Research on Disabilities Education (RDE) Letter of Intent January 16, 2006 Full Proposals February 13, 2006 Centers for Teaching and Learning (CLT) Full Proposals August 21, 2006 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program (STEP) Full Proposals (Type 1) February 9, 2006 Letter of Intent (Type 1 and 2) August 15, 2006 Full Proposals (Type 1 and 2) September 26, 2006 Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) Letter of Intent (CREST) February 3, 2006 Full Proposals (HBCU-RISE) March 3, 2006 Full Proposals (CREST) April 3, 2006 Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) Letter of Intent ((Implementation Projects, Planning Grants, Targeted Infusion Projects, Education Research Projects) January 30, 2006 Full Proposals for above categories February 28, 2006 Letter of Intent (Targeted Infusion Projects, second competition) May 1, 2006 Full Proposals for second competition June 5, 2006 Official deadline dates for proposals will be specified in the new program solicitation for each program, to be published at least three months before the relevant deadline date. Consult NSF Education and Human Resources (EHR), Division of Undergraduate Education for the most up-to-date listings and guidelines; phone: 703/292-8670; email. The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc. Camille Dreyfus Teacher–Scholar Awards Program: November 9, 2006 Faculty Start-Up Award Program: May 11, 2006 Henry Dreyfus Teacher–Scholar Awards Program: June 29, 2006 New Faculty Awards Program: May 11, 2006 Postdoctoral Program in Environmental Chemistry: May 25, 2006 Senior Scientist Mentor Program: Completed Proposals: October 5, 2006 Special Grant Program in the Chemical Sciences: Preliminary Proposals: June 1, 2006 Completed Proposals: August 24, 2006 Further information and confirmation of the above deadlines may be obtained from The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc., 555 Madison Avenue, Suite 1305, New York, NY 10022-3301; phone: 212/753-1760; email. Research Corporation Cottrell College Science Awards: May 15 and November 15 Cottrell Scholar Awards: September 1 Research Innovation Awards: suspended 2004-2005 Research Opportunity Awards: May 1 and October 1 Special opportunities in Science Awards: prospective applicants should submit a preliminary letter. Further information may be obtained from Research Corporation, 4703 East Camp Lowell Drive, Suite 201, Tucson, AZ 85712; phone: 520/571-1111; fax: 520/571-1119; email.