Secondary School Feature Articles

* Introductory Electrochemistry for Kids - Food for Thought and Human Potential, by Gary G. Stroebel and Stephanie A. Myers, p 178.

Focusing on Chemistry in Pre-High-School Science

The importance of preparation in elementary and middle science is obvious to anyone teaching high school chemistry. From its beginning 75 years ago, the Journal has been committed to serving teachers of chemistry from elementary through graduate school. In order to emphasize the importance of chemistry-related teaching in elementary and middle school classrooms, Mickey Sarquis instituted the feature column titled Chemistry for Kids. During her tenure as secondary school editor, three individuals served with distinction as feature editors of the column. In chronological order of service they were Patricia Smith, Richard Steiner, and Linda Woodward. I am thankful to Mickey and each of the feature editors for their commitment to elementary and middle school teachers. Each of the editors, in turn, found it necessary to move on to other responsibilities and it became necessary to search for a new feature editor for the column.

This month I am very pleased to welcome the new co-editors of the Chemistry for Kids feature column. David Tolar is a middle grade teacher and John T. Moore is a university faculty member. They have collaborated on projects previously and are excited about applying their work as a team to Chemistry for Kids. Please read on page 180 their biographic sketches, their vision for the column, and an invitation for suggestions and manuscripts from you. (Obviously there is the possibility for name confusion between the editor of the Journal of Chemical Education, John W. Moore, and the new co-editor of "Chemistry for Kids," John T. Moore. Perhaps it will help to remember that John T. resides and teaches in Texas, but John W. resides and teaches in Wisconsin.) The goal of the "Chemistry for Kids" column is to help facilitate the communication of information among those involved in chemical education in the pre-high school setting. Several categories of manuscripts are appropriate for consideration.

• Activities and demonstrations appropriate for use in elementary or middle school settings. The article by Stroebel and Myers (p 178) is an example. Other examples include "Toxicology for Middle School: The Effects of Common Substances on Daphnia" (1995, 72, 49); "Science is Fun"(1993, 70, 1006); 'C-H-E-M Spells 'Chemistry is Fun' " (1992, 69, 413); and "Adventures in Chemistry for Elementary and Middle Schools" (1989, 66, 230).
• Descriptions of kits, software, and other multimedia tools especially useful in bringing chemistry concepts to the young student.
• Articles prepared by pre-high-school teachers concerning successes or informative failures in bringing chemistry to the elementary and middle school student.
• Collaborative efforts between high school or college faculty members and pre-high-school teachers.
• Successful outreach programs, sponsored by universities, high schools and industries, to pre-high-school audiences. This type of article has appeared more frequently than others and prospective authors should make certain that their manuscript presents new ideas and fresh perspectives.

Flying over Atoms - An Excellent Achievement

Congratulations to John Markham and his students at Laconia High School, Rosendale, Wisconsin, on the release of "Flying over Atoms", a CD-ROM from the JCE Software. The program is described on pages 247-248. Markham obtained scanning tunneling microscope images from a scientist who conducts research on atomic surfaces and used the images to produce an interactive and visually exciting tour of surfaces at the atomic scale. This CD-ROM will be used widely in college and high school classrooms, making this achievement especially significant because it came from a high school setting.

Another contribution from a high school teacher that deals with atomic scale microscopy appeared recently in JCE: "Getting Close with the Instructional Scanning Tunneling Microscope", by Carl Steven Rapp (September, p 1087). Efforts like these illustrate the dedication of chemistry teachers to keeping the curriculum current with respect to technological and scientific breakthroughs.

A New Approach in College Teaching - Implications for High School Chemistry

Various aspects of a new development in college teaching, termed "workshop" teaching are described in three articles appearing in this issue. Because of the definite college focus of the articles it would be natural to skip over them. Nevertheless, there are at least two reasons why you, as a high school teacher, may find these articles interesting. The first is to learn of an innovation that your students may experience during their college studies. Many students complain that college chemistry courses are too large, too impersonal, and too passive. This problem is addressed through small group work not unlike that experienced in many high school chemistry classes. The second reason is that some ideas from the workshop approach can be used to increase learner-centered teaching in high school classrooms.

More information about the feature may be found in the Chemistry for Kids mission statement (September 1997, p 1042). As a high school teacher you may be working with middle or elementary grade teachers. If so, and you have developed new chemistry-related learning activities for children, David and John would like to hear from you.