News from Journal House

Chemical Education Digital Library

Chemical Education Digital Library (ChemEd DL), a Pathway project of the National Science Digital Library (NSDL), provides online collections of resources for teaching and learning chemistry and online tools and services to allow collaboration in the development of the library and its resources.

Periodic Table Live! Wiki

One of these collaborative tools is the ChemEd Collaborative wiki service, which now permits community involvement in Periodic Table Live! (PTL!). Last month we announced that PTL! is an inaugural feature of ChemEd DL. This collection of information about the elements—including images, video, text, data tables, crystal structures, and sorting and graphing capabilities—enables students to interact with the periodic table in an informative and engaging way. Just as the periodic table is the central organizational tool for the chemical elements, the ChemEd DL wiki can become an important tool for community contributions to PTL!

Contribute Your Expertise

We invite you and other members of the chemical education community to participate in further developing this online periodic table to meet your teaching goals. Go to the wiki, create an account for yourself, and contribute what you know about your favorite element (or any other element) to the PTL! section. Building a good digital library for chemistry is a very large job—one that requires the help of many dedicated individuals. Tools like the wiki will help you collaborate with fellow chemistry enthusiasts to, as the ChemEd DL Web site says, “Teach the World Chemistry”.

News from ACS DivCHED

Volunteers Needed: ACS Exams Institute

The ACS Examinations Institute will be conducting important trial testing for several exams this spring for which it is seeking volunteers. Three advanced exams—Organic Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, and the Diagnostic of Undergraduate Chemistry Knowledge (DUCK)—are key exams with needs for volunteers. (More information about the new DUCK exam may be found on p 37 of the January 2008 issue of JCE.) If you are interested in participating, please contact Tom Holme.

Awards Announced

Siemens Awards to Female Competitors

For the first time in its nine-year history for high school students, the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology awarded its top prizes to female competitors. Isha Jain, a senior at Freedom High School in Bethlehem, PA, won the $100,000 scholarship in the individual category for research on bone growth. Janelle Schlossberger and Amanda Marinoff, Seniors at Plainview–Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School in Plainview, NY, share the $100,000 prize in the team category for research on tuberculosis.

More information about the Siemens Competition is available online (accessed Jan 2008).

Award Deadlines

2009 POLYED Award

POLYED National Information Center for Polymer Education announces their 2009 Award for Excellence in Polymer Education for Middle Level and High School Teachers. Applications are now being accepted for this award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the integration of polymer chemistry into pre-college curricula. The winner must be currently teaching high school (grades 10–12) or middle school (grades 5–9) in a public or private school in the U.S. (POLYED is sponsored jointly by the ACS Polymer Chemistry and Polymeric Materials: Science & Engineering Divisions.)

The national awardee receives a plaque and a $1000 honorarium, to be presented at the winner’s school in the spring of 2009 by a member of the American Chemical Society. The awardee also receives an expense paid trip to the Spring NSTA National Conference and will be paired with a Polymer Ambassador during the days in attendance.

An application form may be downloaded from the POLYED Web site (accessed Jan 2008). The deadline for applications is December 15, 2008.

Call for Nomination: Chemical Breakthrough Award

Nominations are now open for the ACS Division of History of Chemistry (HIST) Citations for Chemical Breakthrough award program for 2008. This award recognizes breakthrough publications, books, and patents worldwide in the field of chemistry and the molecular sciences. Plaques, to be placed in the hallways outside the office or laboratory where the breakthroughs were achieved, will be presented annually to the institutions at which these breakthroughs occurred. Jeffrey Seeman, creator of the award and secretary of the award committee, summarized the program’s goals: “identifying and celebrating successes are important to the continued prosperity of chemistry worldwide. We envision that our colleagues and friends, seeing these plaques, will feel pride and inspiration in being a contributor to the sciences.” Additional information and the nomination forms appear on the HIST Web site, or by first going to the HIST homepage (both sites accessed Jan 2008). Nominations must be received by April 12, 2008.

ACS Scholars Program Accepting Applications

Applications are being accepted now through March 1, 2008, for the 2008/09 American Chemical Society Scholars Program. Applicants should be African–American, Hispanic/Latino, or American Indian students who are high school seniors or college freshmen, sophomores, or juniors. They must plan to major in or already be majoring in chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering, or a chemically related science, and they must plan to pursue a career in the chemical sciences.

Since its inception in 1995, the ACS Scholars Program has awarded more than $10.2 million to more than 1,880 students, based on a mix of academic achievement and financial need. Cumulatively, these students have attended more than 400 colleges and universities in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia. Through the support of the program’s partners and donors, the Society expects to award approximately $1 million during the 2008–2009 academic year to both new and continuing Scholars. Scholarships range from $1,000 to $5,000 depending on college level and economic need.

To date, 95 percent of the students accepted into the ACS Scholars program have received an undergraduate degree. In addition, about 400 Scholars have continued on to pursue a graduate degree. More than 150 have been accepted into a Ph.D. program and more than 30 Scholars have already received a Ph.D. Program partners include founding partner, PPG Industries Foundation, Inc.; GlaxoSmithKline; The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation; Schering-Plough; Xerox; Procter & Gamble; 3M; AstraZeneca; Bayer; Dow Corning; Dow Chemical; and DuPont. The program is also supported through the generosity of many individual donors and ACS members, including more than 60 former ACS Scholars.

For details and an online application form, visit the Web site, (accessed Jan 2008), phone 1-800-227- 5558, ext. 6250, or email.

Courses, Seminars, Meetings, Opportunities

High School Chemistry Clubs

The ACS High School Chemistry Clubs Program is now an ongoing program of the Society, following the conclusion of its pilot phase in December 2007. Designed to support a community of educators and students as they experience chemistry beyond the classroom, this program provides teachers and their students with resources and ideas for starting and maintaining a High School Chemistry Club at their school. Active clubs receive a start-up handbook, quarterly resource packets, and other materials throughout the school year; these materials are free.

A total of 117 active clubs have been reported in 34 states and Puerto Rico for the 2007–2008 school year. These clubs have reported a variety of activities including National Chemistry Week celebrations, fund raisers, guest speakers, demonstration shows, and outreach to local elementary schools. High School Chemistry Clubs have also collaborated with or participated in the activities of an ACS Local Section and/or Student Affiliate Chapter. At the ACS National Meeting in Chicago in March 2007, an area Club even participated in the ACS Outreach Event at the Peggy Notebaert Museum.

Start a Chemistry Club

Are you interested in starting a High School Chemistry Club? If so, just contact the ACS Education Division and tell them. For more information on the ACS High School Chemistry Clubs Program or to find out about how easy it is to start one, email.

ACS Chemical Biology: Special Issue Reviews Synthetic Biology

Synthetic biology refers to the design and construction of new biological components, such as enzymes, genetic circuits, and cells, or the redesign of existing biological systems. In forging an approach derived from engineering and synthetic chemistry, synthetic biologists seek to define, understand, and manipulate the tools and building blocks used to create these new systems. The January 2008 issue of ACS Chemical Biology features four reviews and four commentaries highlighting progress in this exciting area.

Synthetic biology often proceeds toward creating new functionality by reducing complex systems into simpler parts that can subsequently be used as building blocks. In one review, Chow and colleagues discuss the chemical synthesis of RNA, a fundamental building block of any cell. They also explain how specific modifications can be incorporated into RNA and how this might allow the engineering of new or improved functions.

In a second review, Woolfson and colleagues discuss the design of peptides and describe how an α-helical coiled–coil structural framework can be used to engineer both novelty and complexity. In addition, they discuss encapsulation systems that recreate the membrane-bound compartments of cells.

A point to consider while engineering an artificial process in a cell is that the cell must retain its own metabolism in order to survive. Filipovska and Rackham discuss this and other important issues in a “how-to” guide for building a parallel metabolism. They describe how unrelated functional modules can work in parallel inside cells and explain how these parallel modules can be evaluated and optimized.

Often, it is cheaper and easier to engineer cells to produce high-quality products than it is to make these products through organic total synthesis. In the final review, Jay Keasling discusses many of the benefits of manipulating metabolic pathways to synthesize desirable products in cells. He argues that biologists, chemists, and engineers need to standardize the parts required to effectively build a biological system. These parts could then be used to design, test, optimize, and implement integrated large-scale biosynthetic units. The author then provides concrete examples of how these principles were used to engineer production of the anti-malarial drug artemisinin.

Synthetic biology has also shown tremendous promise in the area of energy production. In an In Focus commentary, Pamela Silver describes recent efforts to convert biomass into fuels—including ethanol, butanol, biodiesel, and hydrogen—and the challenges that lie ahead in making these options viable. In additional commentaries, Jay Keasling at UC Berkeley and Hans Blaschek at the University of Illinois describe large-scale research initiatives at their respective institutions that were created to develop and refine strategies for biofuel production.

Workshop: Teaching Introductory Polymer Chemistry at the College/University Level

A free short course, “Teaching Polymers”, will be held April 7, 2008, at the ACS National Meeting in New Orleans. The course is intended for chemistry professors who do not have a polymer background but who wish to introduce polymer topics into introductory or foundational chemistry courses and/or plan to teach a one-semester undergraduate polymer chemistry course. POLYED, the educational arm of the ACS Divisions of Polymer Chemistry and Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering, is the workshop’s sponsor.

Workshop Description

Information about the short course, including required pre-registration, appears below. Or visit the POLYED Web site (accessed Jan 2008).

Participants: limited to 25 each session

Prerequisites: While the workshop is intended primarily for college and university professors, interested high school and middle school teachers with a chemistry background also are welcome.

Cost to Participants: None, but participants are encouraged to purchase the course text, Introduction to Polymer Chemistry by Charles Carraher, which was specifically written for use with undergraduates. Pending approval from the publisher (Taylor & Francis), a discount on the text may be available for registrants. Participants are not required to teach from this text.

Instructors: Charles Carraher (Florida–Atlantic University), John Droske (University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point), and Les Sperling (Lehigh University) will team teach the course. Each has many years of experience teaching polymer courses and developing texts and other curricular materials for college and university students.

Location and Time: Monday, April 7, 2008, from noon to 6 p.m. (6 hours with a mid-afternoon break) at the ACS National Meeting in New Orleans.

Pre-Registration: Although the workshop is offered without charge, advance registration is required online (accessed Jan 2008). As space is limited, early registration is encouraged.

Course Overview:

Charles Carraher, two hours: Definitions; Introduction; Polymer Structure; Polymer Molecular Weight

John Droske, two hours: Condensation Polymers and Kinetics; Ionic Chain and Complex Coordination Polymers and Polymerizations; Free Radical Polymerizations and Kinetics; Copolymers and Kinetics

Les Sperling, one and one-half hours: Rheology and Physical Tests; Spectrometric Characterization and Testing of Polymers

Follow-up Questions and Answers, 30 minutes

Repeat Performances

For those who cannot attend the workshop in New Orleans, plans are to also offer it at the Fall 2008 ACS Meeting in Philadelphia (August 18, 2008) and at the Spring 2009 ACS Meeting in Salt Lake City (March 23, 2009). Additional information is available online (accessed Jan 2008) (A successful workshop was held at the Boston ACS meeting in August 2007.)

Polymer Symposium a Success

The fall 2007 Boston American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting included a three-day symposium, the Polymer Science of Everyday Things (PSOET). The symposium featured the use of polymers in medicine and health. This was the third such symposium that has been presented in association with ACS national meetings.

The first day of the symposium was designed especially for K–12 teachers, and was held in a distance-learning classroom, so that it could include teachers in remote sites. Three Polymer Ambassadors and three industrial experts spoke about polymers in adhesive bandages, hydrogel wound dressings, and polymers that are used in the treatment of osteoarthritic joints. The symposium continued with four technical sessions on Sunday and Monday. Some topics attracted standing-room-only crowds. The audience heard about advances in polymeric products including diapers, spinal discs, condoms, contact lenses, sutures, liquid bandages, dermal patches, and polyaspirin. A detailed article about the symposium was published in C&E News in the Sep 24, 2007 issue; visit C&EN CLICs (accessed Jan 2008) on JCE Online for a copy of the article.

The next “Polymer Science of Everyday Things” symposium is likely to be at either the fall 2009 or spring 2010 ACS National Meeting.