News from Journal House

Spice Up Your Teaching! Web Seminar from the ChemEd Digital Library

Is this your first time ever teaching chemistry? Do you know someone who will be a first-time teacher? Maybe you want to spice up your chemistry class next semester?

The Chemical Education Digital Library (ChemEd DL) holds the resources and ideas to help you design an innovative and educational chemistry class or to make your class even more exciting for you and your students. During this free Web Seminar we will highlight a variety of the innovative resources you can find at the ChemEd DL—everything from the Periodic Table Live! with videos of reactions, data, graphs, and more, to Molecules 360, interactive structures that illustrate what molecules look like and how they move. We will also give you great ideas about developing an online component to your course using Moodle (a free online classroom management system).

The Web Seminar, led by John Moore and Lynn Diener, will emphasize resources appropriate for high school chemistry and other introductory chemistry courses. Mark your calendar for Tuesday, July 14, at 1 p.m. EDT. Register online. (accessed May 2009). Participate with us in this Web Seminar; see what exciting ideas you leave with!

JCE and ChemEd 2009

Several JCE-related presentations will be part of the upcoming ChemEd conference, to be held at Radford University (Radford, VA) August 2–6. Our presentations will highlight useful resources such as JCE Web Software and the ChemEd Digital Library. Participants will also have an opportunity to try one of the latest JCE Classroom Activities and learn about Activities that are appropriate for use with substitute teachers and in “need-it-now!” situations. There will also be a presentation to help teachers get ready for this October’s National Chemistry Week where the theme is the periodic table. Join us! (Note that the dates and times in this schedule are still subject to change.)

• Discover JCE Web Software, Linda Fanis
  Monday, August 3: 8:45–9:00 a.m.
• An Open Toolkit for Teaching Chemistry on the Web, Xavier Prat-Resina, Jon Holmes, and John Moore
  Monday, August 3: 9:05–9:20 a.m.
• *Digital Resources from the ChemEd DL, Linda Fanis, Lynn Diener, and Xavier Prat-Resina
  Monday, August 3: 1:00–2:25 p.m.
• See It Today—Use It Tomorrow, Erica K. Jacobsen
  Monday, August 3: 3:15–3:55 p.m.
• Secrets of “Smart” Paper, Lynn Diener
  Wednesday, August 5: 10:00–10:45 a.m.
• *Materials To Help Teachers Celebrate National Chemistry Week 2009: Chemistry—It’s Elemental!, Erica K. Jacobsen and Stacy Jones
  Thursday, August 6: 9:30–10:10 a.m.

*No fee, but preregistration required (accessed May 2009).

Donating JCE Collections

Many JCE readers and some institutional libraries are on the lookout for collections of JCE issues that become available due to retirements or other reasons. Are you cleaning house? Do you know of such a collection?

If you have a collection to donate, please contact Erica Jacobsen with details of the collection, including the years that it covers, whether any individual issues are missing, and where the donor is located. We can try to find a good home for it. Donors will receive information from JCE about the value of their donated collection that they can use for income tax purposes.

If you are looking for a collection, a list of available collections is maintained online. In addition, JCE will be happy to run an announcement in an upcoming issue and correspond with interested readers, or contact any readers on our current “looking for back issues” list. Recipients are always asked to pay any shipping costs.

Let us help your collection find a good home!

Awards Announced

Inaugural Dreyfus Prize in the Chemical Sciences

The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation has announced the winner of the inaugural Dreyfus Prize in the Chemical Sciences:

George M. Whitesides, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

The prize, to be given biennially, recognizes exceptional and original research in a selected area of chemistry that has advanced the field in major ways. Conferred this year in materials chemistry, the prize consists of a monetary award of $250,000, a citation, and a medal. The award ceremony will be at Harvard University on September 30, 2009, and will include a lecture by Whitesides.

The Dreyfus Foundation describes Whitesides as having had a major and sustained impact in the chemical sciences and materials chemistry. He is one of the most innovative and prolific chemists of our time and the most highly cited living chemist in the world. He has developed powerful methods for the creation of new materials that have significantly advanced the field of chemistry and its societal benefits. His research extends across multiple disciplines, centered on chemistry, but touching biochemistry, drug design, and materials science. His work extends to the engineering of functional systems and the applications of these systems in areas ranging from biology to microelectronics. He has opened broad new technological avenues and has impacted human health in significant ways. Whitesides’s research in materials chemistry has become an essential part of materials synthesis programs around the world.

Excellence in High School Teaching Awards

The 2009 winner of the ACS Division of Chemical Education Central Region Award for Excellence in High School Teaching is William E. Snyder. See article and photo.

2009 Othmer Gold Medal

The Chemical Heritage Foundation has selected the recipient of its highest honor, the Othmer Gold Medal, to be presented at Heritage Day, May 14, 2009:

Ahmed Zewail, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA

Zewail, known as the creator of femtochemistry, is the Linus Pauling Professor of Chemistry, Professor of Physics, and director of the Physical Biology Center for Ultrafast Science and Technology.

2009 NSTA/Vernier Technology Awards

The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and Vernier Software & Technology announce the seven winners of the 2009 NSTA/Vernier Technology Award for innovation and scientific investigation. Ranging from elementary school teachers to college instructors, the seven science educators were selected as winners by an NSTA-appointed panel for having created innovative data-collection lessons and programs in their classrooms. Each winner received $1000 in Vernier products, $1000 in cash, and up to $1000 toward expenses to attend the 2009 NSTA National Convention in New Orleans in March 2009, where they were formally recognized at the convention’s awards banquet.

The winning entries are described briefly below.

Elementary

Sheryl Sotelo, McNeil Canyon Elementary School, Homer, AK. Sotelo will add data-collection technology to her environmental monitoring projects.

Middle School

Chris Campbell, Simsboro School, Simsboro, LA. Campbell will monitor environmental conditions in aquatic tanks and monitor the effects of nano-sized particles on aquatic species.

Kristy Gollakner, Gwinn Middle School, Gwinn, MI. Gollakner will have her students monitor water quality in various watersheds that feed into Lake Michigan.

High School

Robert Benedetto, Central Catholic High School, Lawrence, MA. Benedetto’s students will investigate a case study involving decomposition biochemistry by designing an experiment that will measure decomposition rates.

Sarah Southam, Telstar High School, Bethel, ME. Southam plans to increase her student’s science literacy using hands-on activities that utilize data-collection technology.

Eric Walters, Marymount School of NY, New York, NY. Walters will introduce students to different data collection and analysis techniques while developing a better understanding of sources of error using inquiry-based activities.

College

Virginia Balke, Delaware Technical & Community College, Newark, DE. Balke uses Vernier data-collection technology to help prepare her students for careers as technicians for chemical and biotechnology companies and beyond.

Courses, Seminars, Meetings, Opportunities

Chemistry for a Sustainable World: ACS Thematic Programming

For the past several years, each ACS national meeting has been assigned a theme that coordinates and connects programming across the Society. The Division of Chemical Education will play a prominent role in the thematic programming for the Spring 2010 Meeting in San Francisco, the theme of which is “Chemistry for a Sustainable World”. According to Laura Pence, theme program chair, the Division programming will include symposia, programming for high school teachers, programming for undergraduate students led by SOCED, and (potentially) efforts to continue progress toward greener ACS meetings.

The symposia the feature various aspects of incorporating sustainability into chemical education are listed below along with contact information for the organizers. Members of the community are enthusiastically invited to contribute to and attend these symposia as part of communicating advances in these fields. The OASys system will open for abstract submission in September or October 2009.

Sustainability in the Chemistry Curriculum: What, Why Now, and How. Organizers: Cathy Middlecamp and Mary Kirchhoff

Sustainability in the Chemistry Curriculum: Water for a Thirsty Planet. Organizers: Karen Anderson and Jennifer Tripp

Sustainability in the Chemistry Curriculum: Global Climate Change. Organizers: Steve Keller and Ann Bentley.

Feedback Wanted: New ACS Guidelines for Chemistry in Two-Year College Programs

Developed with input from across the chemistry community, the new ACS Guidelines for Chemistry in Two-Year College Programs were released in the Spring of 2009 (accessed May 2009). To receive a hard copy, email your name and address. In the new guidelines:

• the vision of excellence for students, faculty, and programs has been made more explicit
• the emphasis on faculty development has been increased
• the organization has been made to mirror that of the new ACS Guidelines and Evaluation Procedures for Bachelor’s Degree Programs, in order to facilitate student transfer.

The new guidelines are designed to promote excellence and foster dialogue. Please take this opportunity to review them and share them with a colleague or administrator.

Additional materials are being prepared to accompany the guidelines. These supplements will be developed to enhance and explain critical issues and best practices determined by the community. Your feedback regarding the topics and the content of the supplements is welcome and may be emailed.

New Web Site: Chemical Heritage Foundation/AIChE

The Chemical Heritage Foundation and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers have launched a new educational Web site (accessed Apr 2009) that celebrates the past achievements of chemical engineers and the possibilities of future achievements. The site, designed for adults and students in the higher grades who are curious about chemical technologies and who want to improve their scientific literacy, focuses on seven themes: Generating Energy, Saving the Environment, Advancing Biomedicine, Developing Electronics, Enhancing Food Production, and Improving Materials. Under each of these themes, users can take a detailed look at the achievements of the past as well as at today’s innovators. In addition there is a Did You Know? heading that features fun facts about people and technological advances.

Conference: The New Green Economy

The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) announces the 10th National Conference for Science, Policy, and the Environment to be held January 20–22, 2010. The theme of the conference, to be held in Washington, DC, is The New Green Economy: Aligning Science, Education, Markets and Systems for Sustainability. NCSE is planning for a large interactive conference to develop and advance science-based solutions for the creation of a “green print” to achieve a sustainable, new green economy. Sessions will consist of skill-building workshops, breakout sessions, and symposia. Additional information may be found online (accessed May 2009).

Science Education and Outreach: Meeting Topic, Astronomical Society of the Pacific

Forging a Path to the Future is the topic of the 120th Anniversary Meeting of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific to be held September 12–16, 2009 at the Westin San Francisco Airport Hotel in Millbrae, CA. Registration is open and abstracts are being accepted; a proceedings volume will be published as part of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference series.

The meeting symposium begins on Sunday evening, September 13, with the annual members’ meeting and the opening reception. Meeting sessions begin on Monday, September 14, with the annual awards banquet held on Tuesday evening, September 15. The meeting will conclude the early evening of Wednesday, September 16.

The meeting will be preceded by hands-on workshops for K–14 and informal science educators scheduled on Saturday and Sunday, September 12–13, together with a Sunday afternoon series of nontechnical talks on the search for life beyond Earth presented by leading scientists from the SETI Institute. A limited number of $300 stipends will be available to K–12 educators who need additional support to attend the weekend workshops and/or the meeting.

Get more information on all aspects of the conference (including the stipends for K–12 teachers) online (accessed May 2009).

Join us in September in the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area, during the International Year of Astronomy, the International Year of Science, and the 120th anniversary of the founding of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, as we look forward and consider how, working together, we can advance a future of science literacy.

Educational Resources on Telescopes and Astronomy

A new Web site, accompanying the PBS television special “400 Years of the Telescope”, offers background information, classroom and family activities, and practical tips for those who are teaching about the development of telescopes, the history of astronomy, or the exploration of the universe. Discover the features of the site (accessed May 2009).

Both the TV show and the Web site are among the outreach projects of the International Year of Astronomy in 2009, celebrating the 400th anniversary of Galileo turning the telescope toward the heavens.

Summer Workshops Feature AP Science

Vernier Software & Technology will host 21 hands-on workshops in15 cities around the U.S. in summer 2009, giving science and math educators the opportunity to learn techniques for teaching scientific exploration, both in and out of the classroom. Attendees will learn now to integrate computers and the LabQuest handheld data-collection device into any science or math curriculum. Several workshops will cover experiments required by the College Board for Advanced Placement (AP).

The AP Chemistry Workshops are hosted by the team of Vernier and Flinn Scientific. Attendees will experience 22 experiments that are recommended for students by the College Board. The Vernier–Flinn lab book, Advanced Chemistry with Vernier, will be provided to each participant, making it easy to replicate these experiments with students.

Get more information about the workshops (accessed May 2009).