Incorporating forensic applications into chemical education serves as an effective strategy for engaging college students and equipping them with the skills necessary to become valuable in the workforce in relevant fields. For instance, learning how to extract controlled substances from biological specimens in a laboratory course is essential for…

To best prepare students for the real-world research environment, key skills, including experimental design, data analysis, communication of results, and critical thinking, should be key components of undergraduate science courses. Furthermore, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on in-person teaching has resulted in a need to develop courses that…

A qualified teaching method is hard to achieve without traditional classroom lessons. For learning purposes, students need to interact and influence each other, like being part of an osmotic process. They need to learn in a stimulating environment, developing the ability to manage conflicts and to compare opinions. How can this be possible during…

An interdisciplinary course called "The Chemistry of Poisons" was created, featuring organic chemistry, biology, pharmacology, and toxicology content. This exploratory chemistry elective course was created by an instructor with a background in synthetic organic chemistry and a teaching assistant with a background in pharmacy practice.…

Introducing students to the process of scientific inquiry is a major goal of high school and college labs. Environmental toxins are of great concern and public interest. Modifications of a vertebrate developmental toxicity assay using the frog Xenopus laevis can support student-initiated toxicology experiments that are relevant to humans. Teams of…

The use of in-class stories is an excellent way to keep a class interested in subject matter. Many organic chemistry classes are populated by nonchemistry majors, such as pre-med, pre-pharm, and biology students. Trivia questions are presented that are designed to show how organic chemistry is an important subject to students regardless of their…

Because pesticide exposure is a significant hazard to farmworkers in their working and living environments, basic pesticide toxicology is a topic for farmworker science education that has implications beyond scientific literacy to encompass farmworkers' safety and health. Migrant and seasonal farmworkers have been identified as an at-risk…

Understanding natural and human-induced hazards is an important part of the standards-based science curriculum. Experience, however, indicates that the topic is a difficult one for many students. We have developed an exciting investigative laboratory exercise that uses simulated food-based case studies to promote critical thinking and improve…

Describes a microbial bioassay, using molds as test organisms, that demonstrates toxicities of environmental pollutants. Includes laboratory methods and applications for the experiment. (MDH)

To provide graduate students in pharmacology/toxicology exposure to, and cross-training in, a variety of relevant laboratory skills, the Duquesne University School of Pharmacy developed a "methods" course as part of the core curriculum. Because some of the participating departmental faculty are neuroscientists, this course often applied…

Discusses the relative danger from toxicity of some typical chemicals. Notes that some materials in solutions have low toxicity, but in dust form have high toxicity. Suggests that more chemical compounds should be treated as the dangerous compounds they are. Lists common compounds found in the lab. (MVL)

Describes a simple emulsification test and germination test used to determine the cleaning power and toxicity of three different household cleaning agents. (MKR)

Describes a two-quarter hour college chemistry course focusing on laboratory safety. Includes lists of topics/assignments, problem sets (toxicology, storage, and energy) and videotapes, films, and slide sets used in the course. (JN)

Describes an activity in which students examine hypothetical exposure to toxins by being showered by different colored pieces of confetti over several visits to exposure sites. Students record quantities of confetti that stick to packing tape. Colors correspond to different toxins posing different health problems. Students process their findings…