Secondary School Feature Articles

JCE Classroom Activity: #24. The Write Stuff: Using Paper Chromatography to Separate an Ink Mixture, p 176A

Teaching Chemistry in the Midwinter

Every year, forecasters around the world provide us with long-range predictions of what the seasons will afford us in the coming year. And each year, the weather provides a few surprises that the forecasters did not predict - such as a record amount of snow or record heat indexes, depending on where you live. Although the weatherman didn't predict it, we still must pull out our snow shovels or sun block and take the necessary steps to adapt to the situation. As teachers, we make predictions of teaching and learning goals that we aspire to achieve during a given year, and like the weather, the year brings surprises that aren't in line with our predictions. With that in mind, I would like to offer JCE as the scholastic snow shovel or sun shield you need to jump-start your class and reach the goals you have set. So find a warm (or cool) place, get comfortable, and spend some time with the February issue of JCE.

Articles of General Interest in This Issue

For readers living where snow falls, Williams's article on page 148 offers some historical background on the use of calcium chloride as a deicer. A diver that depends for its buoyancy upon gas given off by a chemical reaction is described by Derr, Lewis, and Derr in the article beginning on page 171. In her article appearing on pages 249-250, Wang describes a laboratory exercise that makes the mastery of solution preparation skills fun. The students' skill is tested by using the solutions they make to carry out the Briggs-Rauscher oscillating reaction. For high school class applications I recommend use of 3% hydrogen peroxide, described as an option in the article. A well-organized approach to separating an ink mixture, with some possibly new twists, is laid out in the student- and teacher-friendly format of JCE Classroom Activity: #24, pages 176A-176B.

Addressing Some Specialized Interests

As in any issue of the Journal, there are several articles that are not designated with the secondary school mark () but are likely to be of interest to some high school teachers. For example, if you are interested in staying abreast of educational applications of computational chemistry, the articles on pages 199-221 will be among those you will wish to examine even though the focus is on meeting the learning needs of college students. For those with an interest in electronics, there are several articles on pages 252-262, on building on modifying useful devices. Among the topics: building a digital monitor for analyzing spectrophotometer signals, building a digital interface for a graphing calculator, and using an inexpensive commercial analog-to-digital converter.

JCE Reviewers

The standard of quality in JCE articles is due in great measure to the careful scrutiny and helpful suggestions of reviewers. I am proud to note that the names of several high school teachers are in the list of individuals who have reviewed manuscripts for JCE recently. This month's list, which appears on page 152, is a continuation from page 24 of the January issue. Keep watching if your name has not yet appeared. If you are not currently serving as a reviewer, I encourage you to sign up today. As a reviewer, you would review potential articles that have been submitted to the Journal. You may choose from a variety of subject areas to review and choose as few or as many manuscripts as you can handle. To find out how to become a reviewer, read the information on page 162 or visit our Web site at jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/Journal/Reviewers.

NACS 3/2000 Reminder

NACS 3/2000 is the heading Carolyn Abbott uses in email correspondence about the High School Day program, which be held Monday, March 27, 2000, at the American Chemical Society National Meeting in San Francisco. Carolyn is High School Program Chair and she and her committee have assembled a full day of interesting and useful sessions for teachers. Among the sessions will be three workshops: CBL (John Heil), Laboratory Safety (James Kaufman), and ICE: Chemistry and Material Science (Kathleen Shanks and David Shaw). John Moore and I will conduct a session in which you are invited to share your thoughts about how the Journal could be made more useful to you. We will also provide an update on the breadth of resources available through JCE. The High School/College Interface Luncheon will feature Michael Tinnesand speaking about teaching resources available from the American Chemical Society. Also, there will be sessions on teaching organic and polymer chemistry, developing survival skills for teaching, and "Living by Chemistry". Several outstanding California teachers are among the presenters of these sessions. NACS 3/2000 is a concise way of reminding those of you who can attend, particularly those teaching in the San Francisco Bay area, to put this important date on the calendar now. More details about the High School Day program, as well as other Division of Chemical Education sessions, will appear in the March issue of JCE.