Organic Chemistry

I’m not a fan of asking students to memorize rules or laws for the sake of memorizing rules or laws. There has to be a point—a reason, or at least a decent "this hits home” example of the rule or law. Stay with me . . .

As a follow-up to the first two activities (Part 1 and Part 2) using paper tools to introduce

On a recent trip to Wyoming I eagerly paid a visit to Fort Bridger State Historic Park. In the main museum (the former barracks) an interpretive timeline display summarizing the history of (dishonored and broken) treaties and chronic conflict between the US government and western Native Americans captivated me.

Like a lot of folks (including students), I love brownies. My teaching style and objectives emphasize the applications of chemistry learned in lecture to everyday consumer products familiar to students.

To help introduce students to organic nomenclature in a way that clearly summarizes the patterns that exist in the IUPAC system, a series of paper tools were developed. The paper tool in this activity can be used to introduce the IUPAC naming of major classes of organic compounds.

Organic nomenclature is usually taught as part of any introduction to organic chemistry. To help introduce students to organic nomenclature in a way that clearly summarizes the patterns that exist, a paper tool for naming hydrocarbons was developed.  Materials Materials:

Years ago, I put on a pair of snowshoes during a winter cold snap and found that the plastic binder straps broke fairly easily. At first I thought the plastic straps had simply become more brittle with time, but I found that the straps became less brittle when brought inside to warmer temperatures.