For inexpensive chemistry lab ideas to expand your repertoire, buy my lab book Chemistry on a Budget for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com.
Chemistry on a Budget contains several labs that are great for the beginning of the school year! Topics used include Significant Figures, Density (2 labs) and Physical Separation Techniques.
There are two versions of each lab, one with a ten-question conclusion and one with directions for a full lab report. This way the teacher has the option! Each lab is two pages to allow for one two-sided handout.
It will take a week or so to get to you, so Order Now and use the rest of the summer to determine how you will use the labs!
http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Budget-Marjorie-R-Heesemann/dp/0578129159/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389410170&sr=1-1&keywords=chemistry+on+a+budget
http://www.lulu.com/shop/marjorie-r-heesemann/chemistry-on-a-budget/paperback/product-21217600.html
I realize that during the school year it’s very difficult to keep up with research topics. During the next few weeks, I will talk about some current research going on in the science community.
Mines that have not been properly closed, just abandoned, have been an environmental concern that has been around for many years.
Here is one source providing a basic history of the issue:
http://www.miningfacts.org/Environment/What-are-abandoned-mines/
Here is an older source (2000), but it provides a table of sites needing clean-up in just one US state, Montana:
http://www.perc.org/articles/good-samaritan-abandoned-or-inactive-mine-waste-remediation-act
Here is a 2015 example, showing how this issue is still a concern in the United States:
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.est.5b01408
Abandoned mine concerns has been an issue around the world -- here are other examples from Great Britain, Korea and Italy :
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/288582/LIT_6797_7d390c.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17687627
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s002540050152
This might be an interesting research topic for students. Also, it shows another application of knowledge of Chemistry other than medicine.
This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom. Remember, you can check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.
Keep enjoying your summer, and remember to Order my Book!