A laboratory experiment is described for beginning, nonmajor chemistry students, which allows students to examine the phenomena of fluorescence and chemiluminescence, as well as gain experience in basic organic synthesis. Students synthesize fluorescein and bis(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl) oxalate (TCPO) to explore fluorescence and chemiluminescence by…

A series of Microsoft Excel spreadsheets were developed to simulate the process of separation optimization under isocratic and simple gradient conditions. The optimization procedure is performed in a stepwise fashion using simple macros for an automatic application of this approach. The proposed optimization approach involves modeling of the peak…

This letter comments on the paper "Analysis of Citric Acid in Beverages: Use of an Indicator Displacement Assay" ["J. Chem. Educ." 2010, 87 (8), 832-835 (EJ918557)]. Discrepancies in figures and host:indicator complex behavior are discussed and an alternative experimental protocol presented.

The Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Granada have endeavored to make a number of high quality experiments to familiarize our students with our latest research and also scale-up of processes. A pilot-scale wastewater treatment plant was set-up to give students a close practical view of the treatments of effluents by-produced in…

In high-school teaching of mechanics, we deal, among other things, with the nature of static and kinetic friction, forces that are proportional to the normal force. Under the influence of frictional forces, a body moves down a rough sloped decline at a fixed rate of acceleration that is independent of its mass. This situation does not apply to…

The purpose of the experiment presented in this paper is to quantify the viscosity of a liquid. Viscous effects are important in the flow of fluids in pipes, in the bloodstream, in the lubrication of engine parts, and in many other situations. In the present paper, the authors explore the oscillations of a physical pendulum in the form of a long…

Students make and test a seemingly impossible material made from ice and sawdust that had been developed for possible emergency use during the Second World War. It was open to the students to be creative with their methods of testing the viability of such a material. The thought of making a battleship from ice that would gradually melt seems…

An organic chemistry experiment is described that is based on recent research to elucidate a novel cation-pi interaction between tetraalkammonium cations and propargyl hydrazines. This nonbonded interaction is a key component of the mechanism of ammonium-catalyzed intramolecular cycloaddition of nitrogen to the terminal carbon of a C-C triple bond…

A straightforward synthesis of 2-phenylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridine is described. The reaction is designed to demonstrate to students the preparation of a bridged N-heterocycle, in which the heteroatom occupies a bridgehead position. The product is obtained in moderate to high yield and is highly crystalline. The compound can be purified either by…

The transition from A-level to degree-level practical classes then to a research project, hence from dependent learner to independent researcher, is a hurdle that all students face when studying for a chemistry degree. This can be daunting so any innovations that aid this transition are of great value. At the University of Reading, the first year…

The William Penn Foundation launched Philadelphia's Informal Learning Initiative (ILI) to support the development of literacy-rich programming for families with children aged 3 to 9. The initiative was designed as a network of partnerships in which a cultural organization--usually a museum--paired with one or more, community-based organizations…

Although research and new technologies have introduced different ways of observing microorganisms, including scanning and electron microscopy, these methods are expensive and require equipment that is typically not found in a middle school classroom. The transmission-through-dye technique (TTD; Gregg et al., 2010), a new optical microscopy method…

As well-developed as they may be, standards are not curriculum. It is the job of teachers and curriculum teams to use the Standards as the basis for designing the specific pathway for teaching and learning. In this article, the authors explore the use of Understanding by Design (UbD), a widely-used curriculum development framework, for honoring…

This research explored dream science classrooms of primary school third and fourth-grade students. Research is designed as a case study. The students were first asked to illustrate their dream science classroom and produce a short description of their drawings. Second, they were asked to write their expectations of their teachers, their…

This study concerns a framework for designing Teaching-Learning Sequences that aims to integrate the implementation of scientific practices in the context of daily problems. Said framework consists of three stages (formulation of the design principles, instructional design and design of the learning activities). It is based on four design…