We describe a third-year undergraduate course that focuses on multiscale modeling and protein folding and has as its primary goal the encouragement of students to integrate thinking across and beyond disciplinary boundaries. The ability to perform innovative and successful research work in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)…

Many students perceive science to be a difficult subject and are minimally engaged in learning it. This article describes a lesson that embedded an activity to engage students in learning science. It also identifies features of a science lesson that are likely to enhance students' engagement and learning of science and possibly reverse students'…

It is generally accepted nowadays that History and Philosophy of Science (HPS) is useful in understanding scientific concepts, theories and even some experiments. Problem-solving strategies are a significant topic, since students' careers depend on their skill to solve problems. These are the reasons for addressing the question of whether problem…

Prior research points to a meaningful confidence-accuracy (CA) relationship for positive identification decisions. However, there are theoretical grounds for expecting that different aspects of the CA relationship (calibration, resolution, and over/underconfidence) might be undermined in some circumstances. This research investigated whether the…

The purpose of this research was to examine and compare the effect of teaching the brightness of lamps, which is a topic for grade 11 physics lesson, on student achievement and attitude according to the 5E model belonging to the constructivist learning theory and the traditional teaching method. The research was conducted on 62 11th grade students…

In 1970, deposition of fly ash from a coal burning power plant in downtown Peoria produced minor damage in the vicinity of its smokestack, including runs in ladies nylon stockings. In this article, we review the historical event and discuss the chemistry behind the depolymerization of the nylon, as well as laboratory experiments demonstrating how…

A convenient laboratory experiment is described in which NMR magnetization transfer by inversion recovery is used to measure the kinetics and thermochemistry of amide bond rotation. The experiment utilizes Varian spectrometers with the VNMRJ 2.3 software, but can be easily adapted to any NMR platform. The procedures and sample data sets in this…

A three-week laboratory experiment, which introduces students in an advanced inorganic chemistry course to air-sensitive chemistry and catalysis, is described. During the first week, the students synthesize RuCl[subscript 2](PPh[subscript 3])[subscript 3]. During the second and third weeks, the students characterize the formed coordination…

Many soils throughout the world are contaminated with metal salts of diverse toxicity. We have developed an experiment to demonstrate the removal of a metal from an insoluble surrogate soil pollutant, CuCO[subscript 3] multiplied by Cu(OH)[subscript 2], by complexation followed by the simultaneous electrochemical recovery of the ligand (i.e.,…

A laboratory experiment aimed at students who are studying coordination chemistry of transition-metal complexes is described. A simple vanadyl acetylacetonate complex can be used as a catalyst in the hydrogen peroxide oxidation of anthracene to produce anthraquinone. The reaction can be performed under a variety of reaction conditions, ideally by…

A procedure for teaching green chemistry through laboratory experiments is presented in which students are challenged to use the 12 principles of green chemistry to review and modify synthesis protocols to improve greenness. A global metric, green star, is used in parallel with green chemistry mass metrics to evaluate the improvement in greenness.…

A method for the construction of a Galilean thermometer out of common chemistry glassware is described. Students in a first-semester physical chemistry (thermodynamics) class can construct the Galilean thermometer as an investigation of the thermal expansivity of liquids and the temperature dependence of density. This is an excellent first…

An upper-level mechanistic organic experiment is outlined where undergraduates measure kinetic rate constants for decarboxylation of pyrrole-2-carboxylic acid by the initial-rates method. UV spectroscopy is used to monitor reactant disappearance in both hydrochloric acid and deuterium chloride at different temperatures. Individual data are pooled…

While perusing various websites in search of a more challenging lab for my students, I came across a number of ideas where replacing the string in an Atwood's machine with a simple ball chain like the kind found in lamp pulls created an interesting system to investigate. The replacement of the string produced a nice nonuniform acceleration, but…

This two-part laboratory experiment is designed to be a cost-effective method for teaching basic organic laboratory techniques (recrystallization, thin-layer chromatography, column chromatography, vacuum filtration, and melting point determination) to large classes of introductory organic chemistry students. Students are exposed to different…