Secondary School Feature Articles

JCE Classroom Activity: #25. Silver to Black...and Back, p 328A.

Experiments with Aspirin by Londa Borer and Edward Barry, p 354.

Organic Chemistry and Its Applications

There appears to be an increasing tendency to incorporate organic chemistry into the high school curriculum, particularly in second-year general chemistry and courses specifically identified as organic chemistry. One indication of this interest is found in a group of presentations that appear on the High School Program at the San Francisco ACS Meeting (described below). This issue contains several articles that are potentially useful to readers who include organic topics in their classroom. A Second-Year and Advanced Placement feature article, Experiments with Aspirin, by Borer and Barry (pp 354-355), describes several experiments that can be carried out in addition to the synthesis of aspirin. In the article that follows, Mirafzal and Summer explain how to synthesize analgesic drugs, including aspirin, using a microwave oven (pp 356-357). The synthesis of some of the analgesic drugs mentioned requires the use of toxic compounds, but the technique is interesting and you may find it useful in the preparation of aspirin. Another organic chemistry experiment that may be suitable for use in the high school lab is the Synthesis of the Sweetener Dulcin from the Analgesic Acetaminophen, by Williams, Williams, and Rodino (pp 357-359).

Three articles published in the Products of Chemistry feature describe interesting and current applications of organic chemistry: Organic Vapor Sensors for Food Quality Assessment, by Honeybourne (pp 338-344); Using Microorganisms in Synthetic Organic Chemistry, by Roberts (pp 344-348); and Drug Metabolism: The Body's Defense against Chemical Attack, by Stachulski and Lennard (pp 349-353). Each of the three articles is sufficiently detailed that it will require some time to read and digest the ideas, but they are useful state-of-the-art references.

Chemical Education Division History

If you have been teaching chemistry for several years and have participated in activities of the ACS Division of Chemical Education (DivCHED), you may know of information that would be useful in compiling a history of the past 25 years. During those years you may have served on an ACS Examinations Committee, edited a JCE feature, chaired the High School Program at a National ACS meeting, been a member of a DivCHED committee, organized a symposium at Biennial Conference, or participated in other activities sponsored by DivCHED. J. J. Lagowski will write the history (p 296). I encourage you to send him your ideas so that the high school component of the history is represented.

Allene Johnson Named High School Committee Chair

Congratulations to Allene Johnson on her appointment as chair of the DivCHED High School Committee. Many of our readers know Allene, who teaches at Summit High School (NJ), and appreciate the many professional contributions she has made through service on DivCHED committees and programs. We wish her well as she provides leadership in this important office. Please read about the High School Committee in Diane Bunce's Division News and Announcements column on page 297 to find out how you can provide input.