As I was reading the article by Simoni, Tubino, and Ricchi, it reminded me of some of my favorite labs from the 1980s. The time was well before I had heard of inquiry, peer assisted, or group learning, and the use of computers in high school labs was in its infancy. At that time my three favorite labs were standard cookbook labs, but I thought it was so cool to be able to determine (verify) Avogadro’s Number from a monolayer of oleic acid floating atop a tray of water. Simoni, Tubino, and Ricchi’s article is a wonderful extension to this classic lab. Isn’t it how you approach a laboratory that makes a difference? I would never have expected my high school students to develop their own procedures for determining Avogadro’s Number, but I did encourage significant post-lab discussion to assure that the intended concepts were understood. My students gained insights into the scientific method by learning to estimate, acknowledging measurement errors, using significant digits, questioning their own results, and without a doubt they benefitted from applying skills learned in mathematics classes. (For additional details on using significant digits to determine a formula or molar mass see Svesson’s report.)

My other two favorite labs had to do with determining the relationship between air pressure and volume and using wavelengths of hydrogen emission spectra to calculate energies of electron transitions. From these exercises, we learned how to think like scientists. Verifying a known law or accepted value was always one of the best motivators—especially when the students got the right answer! Even today I have my student teachers perform the old standby labs. I’ve modernized the pressure lab so that students can use their graphing calculators and can determine pressure in “number of coke cans” instead of books or bean bags (cans stack better and graphing calculators provide a cleaner display of the graphed data), but I still do this lab (1). Are these bad things in light of today’s standards? In my opinion, no. We should keep the best of the past. Many of our “old” labs are wonderful teaching tools that are still very strong cognitive motivators.

Stock reminds us of the importance of teaching the history of chemistry. Explaining to students how the mass of the electron was realized or what Einstein actually received his Nobel prize for makes the teaching of chemistry less abstract. I suspect that all teachers include in their curriculum much history, even if not consciously. Knowing about the birth of chemistry and how young a science it is arouses new interests and entices students who realize they have the opportunity to be on the forefront of this relatively new discipline. In Reports from Other Journals, Robinson presents one of the most realistic views of the scientific method that I’ve ever seen. I’ve never thought that having students memorize a linear sequence of events ever got close to describing or mimicking true research endeavors. If you have a true problem, with an unknown answer, then your study should continually generate more questions (the center of the Inquiry Wheel!). Check it out! The Inquiry Wheel is very realistic.

The Norris Award Address also gives us a very interesting insight into how one professor’s lecture presentations have evolved over the last 40 years. What we do in class affects numerous students, but these students then become part of the larger public and our methods may be reflected through a very interesting legacy. Keeping these histories may not seem important to us at the moment, but as many other universities have discovered preparing a “Chemical Genealogy” (see Adams and Tambouret) may lead to some interesting insights. I wonder what would be discovered if the genealogies included the names of the pre-college and undergraduate chemistry instructors?

Summer 2004

Is your summer calendar set? Don’t forget to check out the numerous Web sites to get the updates on local, state, regional, national, and international meetings on target for this summer. Just in case you need a list of what to read on your travels, there is a suggested summer reading list compiled by Harris, Kovac, Pagni, and Coppola. As usual, the reviewers have suggested a variety of choices. We hope to see you next month at BCCE in Ames, Iowa. JCE will have a booth and be conducting several short workshops. (See News & Announcements for details.) Please, stop by and see one of the newest additions to the Journal’s collections, The Chemical Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. This spiral-bound book (edited by Erica Jacobsen, Associate Editor of the Secondary School Section!) consists of 15 years of the popular whodunits by Waddell and Rybolt (2). It can be yours for only $19.95! Order your copy.

Literature Cited

1. Mason, D.; Mittag, K. C.; Taylor, S. E. Integrating Mathematics, Science, and Technology: A Skill-Building Approach; Allyn & Bacon of Pearson Education: Boston, MA, 2003.
2. Jacobsen, Erica, Ed. The Chemical Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Stories written by Thomas G. Waddell and Thomas R. Rybolt. Journal of Chemical Education: Madison, WI, 2004.