Essential oils serve as a valuable, inexpensive natural supply of useful organic compounds that possess various biological activities, including antimicrobial properties, and most oils emit pleasant and familiar odors. They are an excellent source of analytes for introductory organic laboratory experiments. We report an experiment in which…

In this work, we have developed a versatile three-in-one single beam visible colorimeter for undergraduate laboratory courses. The battery and mains electricity supply (utility power), wired and wireless data logging, and 3D-printed components are three important highlights of the developed visible colorimeter. The system is based on a low-cost…

The "Golden Penny" demonstration is a popular experiment that involves treating copper coins with chemical reagents to form brass, an alloy of copper and zinc that has a golden color. Reported here is a very simple modification for forming golden color on copper coins that does not require the use of chemical reagents. Instead, golden…

Historical scientific controversies have great potential to address aspects of the nature of science in context. This paper describes a design case about a novel lesson plan based on the scientific controversy between Karl von Frisch and Carl von Hess on the sight of bees (how they see). This lesson plan allows concepts related to experimentation,…

We report a research-enhanced undergraduate laboratory practical in which students synthesize and characterize color-controllable, stable silver nanoparticles for use in a simple catalytic reaction analyzed by UV-vis spectroscopy. The practical has been prepared for students using electronic laboratory notebooks, enables collaborative data…

A new two-step experiment has been designed and developed for the curriculum of the Organic Chemistry Laboratory 2 (CHEM2240L) sophomore course at Xavier University of Louisiana, in New Orleans. Initially, cyclohexanol was converted to cyclohexanone using bleach as the oxidizing agent followed by the formation of the cyclohexanone oxime. However,…

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is an indispensable technique in the organic chemistry laboratory for elucidation of molecular structure. Miniaturization of NMR technology has attracted attention and acceptance due to a considerable reduction in the cost to acquire and maintain the instrument. The advent of low-field, low-cost, and…

This project report highlights a simple yet effective outreach lab benefiting the community partner, specifically the Alameda Point Collaborative (APC) youth program and Saint Mary's College students in a general science course. Building on a partnership focused on reciprocity, a portable lab experiment (Mattson Microscale Gas Chemistry lab) was…

Along with the COVID-19 pandemic, universities in Turkey as well as all over the world have started to carry out their education activities with the distance education method. In this case, many difficulties were encountered in the application of the Biology course, which is one of the applied courses carried out in the laboratory. Virtual…

Although physical hands-on laboratory experiments are commonly used in schools, virtual laboratory environments are also being used in science classrooms. Their possibilities and impact on students' achievement, conceptual understanding, and inquiry skills have been investigated by other researchers. Yet, it is difficult to find studies about the…

During the SARS-2-COVID pandemic our institution sought to continue the teaching and learning of experimental laboratories by designing, assembling, and delivering a microscale chemistry kit to the students' homes. Thanks to this approach students were able to perform [approximately]25 experiments during each one of the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021…

This study has proposed a simple method to show the convective heat transfer. The object in this study is an air conditioner (AC) as a simple case of convection. In addition, AC is also easy to find in the class because most classrooms in Indonesia installed AC. Usually, a visualization needs special software (i.e. MatLab or others) and good…

Enzymes are widely applied in different industries, like pharmaceutical, food, biofuel, and waste valorization. However, the enzyme operating conditions are very limited. So, in most industrial processes, enzymes are not efficient, due to the use of harsh conditions, like organic solvents, extreme pH, and temperature. Immobilization arises as a…

Polymerization reaction media can have a profound effect on the physical properties of the resultant polymer. This phenomenon is showcased in a new experiment for the organic chemistry and polymer science teaching laboratories wherein the radical copolymerization of biobased [beta]-myrcene and dibutyl itaconate is performed using a nonhazardous…

After waiting in a long line for your favourite cup of coffee, you finally sit down with your mug and find that the coffee is still scalding hot! How long do you need to wait before you can enjoy it? Once it cools enough, how much time do you have to enjoy it? Are there ways to speed up the process? These questions motivate the presented modelling…