This activity allows students to visualize the electrolysis of water in a microfluidic device in under 1 min. Instructional materials are provided to demonstrate how the activity meets West Virginia content standards and objectives. Electrolysis of water is a standard chemistry experiment, but the typical laboratory apparatus (e.g., Hoffman cell)…

An introductory level green chemistry experiment is described that places a new twist on soap-making in lab. In this experiment, oil is extracted from an avocado, after which the oil is saponified to produce bars of green craft soap. Commonly used extraction solvents, such as petroleum ether, methylene chloride, and hexane, are replaced with safer…

This paper presents the design and practical application of a laboratory inquiry at high school chemistry level for systematic chemistry learning, as exemplified by a thermochemical approach to the reaction stoichiometry of neutralization using Job's method of continuous variation. In the laboratory inquiry, students are requested to propose the…

A [superscript 1]H NMR spectroscopy-based laboratory experiment explores mono- and disaccharide structural chemistry, and the enzyme-substrate specificity of glycosidic bond cleavage by ß-glucosidase towards cellobiose (ß-linked gluco-disaccharide) and maltose (a-linked gluco-disaccharide). Structural differences between cellobiose, maltose, and…

A flexible, rigorous laboratory experiment for upper-level biochemistry undergraduates is described that focuses on the Roundup Ready maize line. The work is appropriate for undergraduate laboratory courses that integrate biochemistry, molecular biology, or bioinformatics. In this experiment, DNA is extracted and purified from maize kernel and…

A "one-pot" method for acquiring kinetic data for the reactions of a series of substituted aromatic esters with potassium hydroxide using [supserscript 13]C NMR spectroscopy is described, which provides an efficient way to obtain sufficient data to demonstrate the Hammett equation in undergraduate laboratories. The method is…

A pedagogically useful discovery-based undergraduate organic chemistry lab experiment probing the chemo- and diastereoselectivity in the NaBH[subscript 4] reduction of two chiral ketoesters (benzoin acetate and benzoin benzoate) has been developed. This experiment complements a previously described and highly popular discovery-based experiment…

Nanotechnology allows the synthesis of nanoscale catalysts, which offer an efficient alternative for fuel cell applications. In this laboratory experiment, the student selects a cost-effective anode for fuel cells by comparing three different working electrodes. These are commercially available palladium (Pd) and glassy carbon (GC) electrodes, and…

This experiment combines analytical techniques of solid phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with easily relatable and accessible plant volatile chemistry (floral and vegetative scents of local/available plants). The biosynthesis and structure of these chemicals are of interest in the areas of organic chemistry,…

Energy drinks, as familiar consumer products, have been widely used in laboratory courses to help promote student interest, as well as to connect lecture concepts with laboratory work. Energy drinks contain B vitamins: pyridoxine (vitamin B6) and riboflavin (vitamin B2) of which amounts are high enough to be of concern. In this work, a fast and…

The Distributed Drug Discovery (D3) program trains students in three drug discovery disciplines (synthesis, computational analysis, and biological screening) while addressing the important challenge of discovering drug leads for neglected diseases. This article focuses on implementation of the synthesis component in the second-semester…

This linguistic anthropological case study demonstrates the ways in which a heterogeneous lab group of adolescents in a ninth-grade physics classroom constructed "raciolinguistic ideologies" that intersected with their locally constructed notions of science expertise. Using ethnography and discourse analysis this study unpacks how…

The basis for understanding neurophysiology is understanding ion movement across cell membranes. Students in introductory courses recognize ion concentration gradients as a driving force for ion movement but struggle to simultaneously account for electrical charge gradients. We developed a 17-multiple-choice item assessment of students'…

In this paper, we describe a lab activity for measuring a spherical balloon's circumference. The procedure we discuss is based on the method used by Eratosthenes to measure the Earth's circumference.

The author taught for years in rural high schools, where students often helped their parents out around the house or farm with chores, learning basic mechanical skills that he could then build on in class. Then the author taught in an urban high school, where student skills often centered on video games and other electronics. The author knew that…