Michael Morgan is the president of the Chemistry and Physics on Stamps Study Unit. He has collected stamps and shared his interest with others for almost 30 years.
With the current global COVID-19 pandemic, there has been much discussion of “flattening the curve” by social distancing. These ideas can be demonstrated chemically, for example, by the iron-catalyzed decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to produce an oxygen gas foam. Decreased hydrogen peroxide concentrations, representing decreased human population concentrations from social distancing, produce oxygen gas foam, representing cases of illness, at a slower rate. A similar demonstration can be achieved using the popular Diet Coke and Mentos experiment. These simple experiments are best used as stand-alone demonstrations.
Developing Students’ Scientific Reasoning - The March 2020 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online to subscribers. Topics featured in this issue include: nanochemistry; innovative curriculum; teaching with games; teaching with food chemistry and natural products; infrared applications; analysis using color, images, and visualization; environmental chemistry; computer-aided organic chemistry; synthesis laboratories; physical chemistry; graduate school climate assessment; chemical education research: introductory chemistry and student success.
I observe a red to blue color change when I rinse my bowl after eating frozen blueberries. Sounds like an acid-base reaction, doesn’t it? Well, read on to learn about the blueberry surprise!
What do scientists have to say about the connection between climate change and the bush fires in Australia?
Have you heard that TERC, a nonprofit, has launched a STEM Teacher Leadership Network funded by the National Science Foundation? The online community is for aspiring or current teacher leaders, researchers and administration to improve STEM education, effect policy and discuss the changes to the future of STEM education in a collaborative online collegial network.
Erica Jacobsen shares highlights from the December 2019 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education of special interest to our ChemEd X community.
Chemistry and lasers can be used to create a demonstration that includes several colors and flashing lights. This demonstration connects to topics in quantum chemistry and phase changes.
Reimagining Chemistry Education: Systems Thinking, and Green and Sustainable Chemistry
The December 2019 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online to subscribers. In response to a call for papers, chemistry educators from around the world have contributed articles to the Journal collected in the December edition as special issue on systems thinking, and green and sustainable chemistry.
The IB Program is a two year program, beginning in the students’ junior year, focused on creating balanced learners who explore content in a wide range of areas to develop effective approaches to learning and be capable of working in global contexts.
