Radium Girls is one of those books that can’t be put down. It challenges us with imagery so vivid that sometimes you just want to look away, but you are so invested in the lives of the girls that you persevere to the end. It is tragic and strong but also hopeful and tender.
It’s the beginning of a brand new school year, and a brand new opportunity to capture students’ interest in chemistry and the joy of lab-based sciences! In thousands of chemistry classrooms across the country, teachers will be planning labs, demos, and ways to have students be engaged and excited about learning.
Is your school district providing OSHA required safety training to teachers and other staff that will be in the science labs in your building?
Deanna Cullen shares highlights from the April 2018 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education.
The Flinn website sums up their software with these sentences, "Flinn’s Online Chemventory™ Inventory Management System(link is external) is a cloud-based lab management system that allows multiple users on multiple devices from multiple locations! Available as a 1-Year, 3-Year or 5-Year license.
The ACS Committee on Chemical Safety has released the 8th edition of "Safety in Academic Chemistry Laboratories". The publication provides advice for first- and second-year university students.
Undergraduates Need a Safety Education is the title found in the commentary section of the September 2016 Journal of Chemical Education. It is written by Robert H. Hill Jr and it explains the lack of safety education in chemistry curriculum. As I read this, I thought back to my safety education that prepared me for my role as a high school chemistry teacher and felt I was very fortunate to have had an undergradutae class that was specifically designed to teach chemical safety.
During the first week of school, I welcome my students to the What Not To Do Lab. I use the cartoon activity to review their Safety Contract handout from the night before. With more than 30 safety violations shown, the cartoon serves as a great ice breaker as I have each student introduce themselves and then list a safety infraction being shown on the cartoon.
CLEAPSS is a subscription service, but our YouTube Channnel is an open source. The videos are designed for teachers and technicians in schools. They may just give you ideas. I have just put one up about electrostatics and the effect of magnets on water and oxygen. In a couple of weeks I hope to have a sequel showing the effect of magnets on precipitates and complexes.
(A look at workplace exposure limits found in MSDS sheets)
There is useful information in section 8 of a (Material) Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) that teachers can use and shows how a knowledge of chemical equations and calculations helps protect the health of their students and themselves and helps to assure their employers and safety officers that teachers and lecturers are responsible and professional users of chemicals.
