There are lots of reasons to read a journal, and surely enjoyment should be one of the prime reasons. The Internet can make you smile. Ever think of a fine instrument like a mass spectrometer as a pinball machine in an arcade? You will if you go to the Colby College OChem Visual Demos "Learning by Visualization" site: http://www.colby.edu/chemistry/OChem/demoindex.html#table and then select Mass Spectroscopy. A real treat is in store for you. Sound, action, and entertainment add up to a great teaching tool. Oh, did I mention that first you must download Shockwave from the Colby site or directly from Macromedia http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/plugin.cgi. It is really worth the extra troubleand it's free.

Let's move on to other laboratory experiments on the Internet. Several sites cover the same content, but with different approaches. Let's concentrate on Extractions. A wealth of information can be found at The Science Hypermedia site http://www.scimedia.com/index.htm. Go to "Index of Educational Documents on this Server", and then go to "E" and then to "Extraction". Look at the hyperlinked text and the fine graphic of an extraction by Brian Tissue http://www.scimedia.com/chem-ed/sep/extract/graphics/extractn.gif. Link to another presentation movie of the safe use of a separatory funnel (created by Yue-Ling Wong for The Learning Matters of Chemistry): http://yip5.chem.wfu.edu/yip/Video/sep-funnel.MOV.

Yet a third approach to Extractions comes from the University of Akron's Organic Laboratory by J. Kofron and J. K. Hardy. A series of excellent, clear, large photographs are used for this step-by-step extraction of caffeine from a cola beverage http://odin.chemistry.uakron.edu/organic_lab/cola/. Good teaching is done in all these approaches to extractions. You can choose one that matches your needsor get inspired and create your own site.

Surely your students will think of coffee when they extract caffeine. Let's send them to one of the sources of a great cup of coffee (and also lots of information on molecules and spectra): The University of the West Indies in Jamaica http://wwwchem.uwimona.edu.jm:1104/. Go to "Jamaican Themes for Lecture Materials" and choose "Jamaican Coffee" http://wwwchem.uwimona.edu.jm:1104/lectures/coffee.html.

You can also get a great .gif of caffeine from this site: http://wwwchem.uwimona.edu.jm:1104/avi_files/caff1.gif.

When visiting all these, be sure to look around at everything at that site. All contain other outstanding chemistry nuggets. Where did I begin my search for this commentary? From a great homepage, of course: Liz Dorland's Chemistry Tutorial and Resource Page http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/academic/phy_sci/Chemistry/faculty/dorland/chime.html .

World Wide Web Addresses

Colby College OChem Visual Demos: http://www.colby.edu/chemistry/OChem/demoindex.html#table

Liz Dorland's Chemistry Tutorial and Resource Page: http: //www.mc.maricopa.edu/academic/phy_sci/Chemistry/faculty/dorland/chime.html

Drug Information Center NCI database of 127,000 Structures: http://www.chem.com/127,000_3D_ structures

Science Hypermedia: http://www.scimedia.com/index. htm

Shockwave from Macromedia: http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/plugin.cgi

The University of Akron's Organic Laboratory: http:// odin.chemistry.uakron.edu/organic_lab/cola/

The University of the West Indies: http://www.chem.uwimona.edu.jm:1104/

Yue-Ling Wong for The Learning Matters of Chemistry: http://yip5.chem.wfu.edu/yip/Video/sep-funnel.MOV