This issue is rich with articles containing ideas that can be used directly in the classroom or laboratory. There also are several articles that can be used by the reader to review or broaden understanding of a variety of chemical applications to substances encountered daily in the world outside of the classroom.

In the Classroom

An interesting representation of the periodic table is described by Fu-cheng He and Xiang-yan Li in their article "The Periodic Building of the Elements: Can a Periodic Table Be Transformed into Stereo?" Although written about large college classes, Stein's article "The Suggestion BoxAn Old Idea Brings the 'Real World' Back to Freshmen Chemistry Students (and Professors)" provides useful suggestions that can be used in other class settings.

Shusterman and Shusterman explain how they are "Teaching Chemistry with Electron Density Models" using visuals created with a molecular modeling program that runs on a desktop computer. Although the application described is in college general chemistry courses, the methods will be of interest to many teachers of AP and second- year chemistry. Kashmar describes "The Use of Cut-Out Molecular Models on the Overhead Projector To Illustrate Stoichiometry and Limiting Reactants" as a means of helping students conceptualize the particulate nature of matter. In the article "Making Organic Concepts Visible", author Liu provides graphics useful in the study of functional groups, resonance structures, and polarizability.

The cost of commercial crystal structure models is prohibitive for many schools. Laing describes how to assemble "An Inexpensive Kit for Constructing Models of Crystals" for less than $10. Another inexpensive approach is described by Cady in the article "Use of Pom Pons To Illustrate Cubic Crystal Structures". A low-cost visual approach to predicting molecular shape, using cow magnets and simple laboratory equipment, is described by Parker in "VSEPR Theory Demo".

Gulden et al. have developed a "Materials Science Teaching Module as Adjunct to Introductory Chemistry" that incorporates aspects of chemistry, physics, materials, and engineering with an emphasis on engineering of materials, and it is designed for high school classes. Teachers who serve as student teacher mentors or who serve on an advisory board to a college teacher education program should read the article by Jones et al., "Preparing Preservice Chemistry Teachers for Constructivist Classrooms through Use of Authentic Activities".

Research: Science & Education

Inorganic chemistry involving free radicals in aqueous solutions can be important in environmental processes. Baird explains why in "Free Radical Reactions in Aqueous Solutions: Examples from Advanced Oxidation Processes for Wastewater and from the Chemistry in Airborne Water Droplets". "Student Misconceptions in Electrochemistry Regarding Current Flow in Electrolyte Solutions and the Salt Bridge" are addressed by Greenbowe and Sanger. Following a study to identify misconceptions and determine their probable sources, the authors developed methods to help students overcome their misconceptions.

In the Laboratory

A project approach, which begins with a discrepant event and leads through a series of investigations, enables students to answer the question "Does Copper Metal React with Acetic Acid"? Author DeMeo use the experiment to teach several concepts including the importance of controlling variables, how to prepare common gases, the solubility of gases in water, the electrochemical series, redox, and corrosion.

Chemistry Everyday for Everyone

In "The Great Ideas of Chemistry", Gillespie proposes six fundamental ideas of chemistry that he believes are essential for every potential scientist, engineer, and medical practitioner to understand. Although written for college general chemistry, the article will be important in thinking about chemical literacy in first- and second-year high school courses as well.

Are you ever confronted with the question, why do we have to learn about molecular shapes? Kimbrough provides an interesting example in her article "Hot and Spicy vs. Cool and Minty as an Example of Organic Structure­Activity Relationships". Another article that relates chemistry to interesting and important applications is Agosta's "Medicines and Drugs from Plants". Taking a historical approach, Stock traces "The Pathway to the Ostwald Dilution Law", which defined the ionization constant of a weak monobasic acid or of a weak base.

Information · Textbooks · Media · Resources

In the article "Ionization or Dissociation?" Schultz makes a case for using ionization when ions are formed from nonionic species and using dissociation only when ions that are already present are separated (dissociated).

Quick Notes

Congratulations to 1997 CMA Catalyst Award National winners George R. Gross, Union High School, Union, NJ, and Alan D. Redmond, Ross N. Robinson Middle School, Kingsport, TN, and to the Regional winners Barbara A. Gadegbeku, Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child, Summit, NJ; Thaddeus Lau, Flint Northwestern High School, Flint MI; Anna Castley, P.S. 22, Staten Island, NY; and Mary Katherine Keleher, A. L. Schilling Elementary School, Newark, CA.

At Chem Ed 97 we hope you will attend "The Rewards of Sharing through the Pages of the Journal of Chemical Education" workshop, August 3, 1-2:50 p.m. Meet with teachers who have published in the Journal to discuss how to write for publication, why you should consider sharing with others by this means, and what are the professional and personal rewards for doing so. You also will have the opportunity to express your suggestions for making JCE more useful for teachers.