"Forensics," in its most universal sense, is defined as the use of science or technology in the investigation and establishment of facts or evidence for determining identity or relatedness. Most forensic reasoning is used for arguing legal matters. However, forensic studies are also used in agronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, and…

Chemistry is a good entry to many topics in nanotechnology. This paper describes a non-science majors' course in which chemical concepts provide the background to the study of this new field. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

A. D. Mitchell's work on the phosphorus(I) reduction of the halogens and of mercury(II) and copper(II) chlorides is examined. A review of some salient characteristics of the Mitchell mechanism is presented, together with a discussion on how a student might benefit from a case study of the phosphorus(I) reduction of iodine or the similarly behaving…

Chemistry teachers face constraints when trying to integrate cognitive and affective objectives, and hence thoughtful lesson planning is required to achieve the goal. Chemistry teachers can educate students to be knowledgeable about chemical concepts, processes and the benefits of responsible practice by the chemical industry, while being aware,…

A Web-based organic chemistry home work program, EPOCH is developed, whose two most important features are that students draw structures as responses to posed questions, and then students receive feedback tailored specifically to their responses. EPOCH is a tool that can have a real effect on student learning and provides one-to-one interaction…

"Curriculum alignment projects, towards developing a need to know", presents an approach to curriculum design that could be considered truly constructive in its format. Successful completion of the project requires students to synthesize a number of concepts that make up the block's learning objectives.

A new project-based lab was developed for third year undergraduate chemistry students based on real world applications. The experience suggests that the total analytical procedure (TAP) project offers a stimulating alternative for delivering science skills and developing a greater interest for analytical chemistry and environmental sciences and…

A synthesis is developed to make biodiesel from vegetable oils such as soybean, sunflower, and corn oil, as an exercise in the laboratory. Viscosity measurements were used to gain an understanding of an intermolecular property of the biodiesel and that has limited the implementation of biodiesel on a wide scale basis, solidification at low…

A laboratory experiment reinforces the concept of acid-base equilibria while introducing a common application of spectrophotometry and can easily be completed within a standard four-hour laboratory period. It provides students with an opportunity to use advanced data analysis techniques like data smoothing and spectral deconvolution to…

Toys which can help to learn the basics and more in-depth chemistry concept are investigated and explained, which are also available online on the website. Some of the examples are simple LCD clock powered by citric acid of lemon, crystal radio made from simple household materials, firework, homemade snow globe, which explains the properties of…

A summer outreach program, which was implemented for the first time in the summer of 2004, that provided middle school girls with an opportunity to conduct college-level analytical chemistry experiments under the guidance of female graduate students is explained. The program proved beneficial to participants at each level.

The aim of this paper is to consider some issues in the historical international development of science education making comparisons between the educational systems of Britain and the United States of America. The author's particular interest relates to the role of the textbook in science education, so this is area on which this study will…

Initiatives in education reform emphasize inquiry-based active learning and real-world relevance to increase science literacy nationwide. Active teaching and learning approaches yield rapid intellectual development and may increase interest and motivation to learn science. Incorporating the topic of drug use with neuroscience, biology, psychology,…

This study assessed and compared the relative effectiveness of three methods for teaching and conducting experiments in separation of mixtures in chemistry. A pre-test, post-test experimental design with a control group was used. Two hundred and thirty three randomly selected Senior Secondary School I (SSS I) chemistry students were drawn from…

Calculators used widely by students, teachers, scientists, engineers and many others provide an interesting case study of a compelling technology that has helped change the way many professionals work. They not only help in enhancing problem solving skills of most individuals, but also help visualise solutions to problems in a better way. Research…