As we approach Labor Day, you may be enjoying the last few days of summer vacation, but you might also be going by your school and thinking about the first few weeks.  The book Chemistry on a Budget contains inexpensive chemistry labs that are useful, especially at the beginning of the school year
 
The early labs include topics of Significant Figures, Density (3 labs), the Separation of a Mixture (including coverage of Percent Composition), and Liquid Chromatography.  These are safe labs that cover essential information, giving you time to emphasize Lab Safety and get Lab Safety Contracts signed.
 
You can buy this lab book for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com. It will take 1-2 weeks to get to you, so Order Now and you’ll have time with it and decide how to incorporate the labs into your class activities.
 
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
 
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. 
 
*Some of you have already purchased my lab book – be sure to check out Page 141 !
 
Here’s a list of past blog posts that may be useful as you prepare for a new school year.  They are grouped in various topic “themes”:
 
Classroom:
07/06/2014              Decorating Your Classroom
07/27/2014              Classroom Ideas –Daily
                                   Announcements and Teacher
                                      Websites
07/20/2014              Classroom Grading Programs

Beginning Activities:
08/10/2014              Lab – Reaction in a Bag
07/13/2014              Chemistry Laboratory Safety
06/22/2014              Scientist Research


Course Organization:
08/27/2015             Outlines for Student Notes
10/15/2014             Unit Objectives
 
These entries may provide ideas and resources to help your beginning days.  It’s an important time to set the tone and expectations for your classroom. 
 
You may have heard the phrase, “Don’t smile before Thanksgiving.”  Think ENTROPY – you start controlled and establish your classroom routine because it will only loosen up as the school year goes by.  It’s very difficult to start “loose” and later try to get “strict” when your classroom is not as controlled as you like.  Don’t make that rookie mistake!
 
If you are new to a school, your students might not appreciate that you’re not the beloved teacher that has been there 25 years – stick to your style and work through.  You’ll be OK!

Talk to your fellow teachers.  Find out how they start the year, if there is a common lab experience or movie.   Share with them what you plan to start with -- you're bringing in new ideas as well!
 
I have listed links to various chemistry classroom ideas in the Teaching Resources of this blog.  Check them out!
 
Here is a song showing the various chemicals in various locations:
​

Wow, August 2016 is speeding to an end!  A few of you start school before Labor Day and you are thinking about the first few weeks -- the book Chemistry on a Budget contains inexpensive chemistry labs that are useful at the beginning of the school year
 
The early labs include topics of Significant Figures, Density (3 labs), the Separation of a Mixture (including coverage of Percent Composition), and Liquid Chromatography.  These are safe labs that cover essential information, giving you time to emphasize Lab Safety and get Lab Safety Contracts signed.
 
You can buy this lab book for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com. It will take 1-2 weeks to get to you, so Order Now and you’ll have time with it and decide how to incorporate the labs into your class activities.
 
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
 
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. 
 
*Some of you have already purchased my lab book – be sure to check out Page 141 !
 
 “Conversations about the state of the planet’s climate are often dire and mostly negative, given the human-induced changes to it and the seeming inability to even control the degradation, let alone turn the clock back. And so, it should be cause for cheer that scientists from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) have created a solar cell that converts atmospheric carbon dioxide into a usable fuel.”
http://www.ibtimes.com/artificial-leaf-produces-fuel-co2-sunlight-2396417
 
“A new type of solar-powered technology has the potential to play a big role in the fight against climate change if its inventors can take it from the laboratory to industrial-scale use... [A] team of scientists announced in the journal Science [on July 28, 2016] that they have created a device that absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and uses sunlight to break it into a mix of carbon monoxide and hydrogen called synthesis gas or “syngas,” that can be used directly or turned into diesel or other liquid fuels, said Amin Salehi-Khojin, a mechanical engineer at the University of Illinois at Chicago who leads the lab that conducted the research.”
http://www.takepart.com/article/2016/07/28/experimental-artificial-leaf-solar-cell-converts-co2-usable-fuel?cmpid=tp-fb
 
“Unlike conventional solar cells, the new device essentially does the work of plants, converting atmospheric carbon dioxide into fuel, solving two crucial problems at once.
A solar farm of such cells could remove significant amounts of carbon from the atmosphere and produce energy-dense fuel efficiently…
To make carbon dioxide into something that could be a usable fuel, the researchers needed to find a catalyst… ‘Chemical reactions that convert carbon dioxide into burnable forms of carbon are called reduction reactions, the opposite of oxidation or combustion,’ Dr. Salehi-Khojin said.
‘Engineers have been exploring different catalysts to drive carbon dioxide reduction, but so far such reactions have been inefficient and rely on expensive precious metals such as silver.’ …
The best of several catalysts the scientists studied turned out to be tungsten diselenide (WSe2), which they fashioned into nanosized flakes to maximize the surface area and to expose its reactive edges.”
http://www.sci-news.com/othersciences/chemistry/photosynthetic-solar-cell-04070.html
Note the discussion of the search for a catalyst for this reaction, as well as other vocabulary terms you might find useful – in a homework assignment perhaps? 
 
Other research about converting CO2 into a usable fuel has been conducted over the past few years. 

“Researchers [in 2010]…presented…experimental evidence of a new solar conversion process, combining electronic and chemical pathways, for carbon dioxide capture in what could become a revolutionary approach to remove and recycle CO2 from the atmosphere on a large scale. Rather than trying to sequester or hide away excess carbon dioxide, this...method allows it to be stored as solid carbon or converted in useful products ranging from plastics to synthetic jet fuel. “
http://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=17198.php
 
Another method developed at Arizona State University in early 2016 involves “[a] transparent box with what resembles two stacks of lasagna noodles that can be lowered into it. The “pasta” actually contains...a sorbent – an absorptive material. It’s made up of a hard plastic resin – a synthetic analogue of natural substances like amber — that has been crushed into tiny pieces and then embedded in strips of softer plastic…[I]n the open air, it binds to that invisible gas that has caused the world so much trouble — carbon dioxide — and so acts as a kind of sponge to pull it out of the atmosphere.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/02/26/weve-reached-the-point-where-we-need-these-bizarre-technologies-to-stop-climate-change/?utm_term=.2206b7741353
 
It is interesting, and encouraging, that science is now approaching the issue of excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which is leading to global climate change, and trying to address it.
 
*This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom.  Check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.
 
Also, Write To Me about your successes, challenges, or questions in the Chemistry Classroom.
 
Remember, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful to your Chemistry classroom with labs and class article ideas.


Keep enjoying the last of August!
​

I hope you are enjoying the last of August, 2016!  As you are thinking about the coming 2016-2017 school year, the book Chemistry on a Budget contains inexpensive chemistry labs that are useful, especially at the beginning of your school year. 
 
Early labs include Significant Figures, Density (3 labs), the Separation of a Mixture (including coverage of Percent Composition), and Liquid Chromatography.  This way you have pretty safe labs that cover essential information, giving you time to emphasize Lab Safety and get Lab Safety Contracts signed.
 
You can buy this lab book for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com. It will take 1-2 weeks to get to you, so Order Now and you’ll have time with it and decide how to incorporate the labs into your class activities.
 
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
 
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. 
 
*Some of you have already purchased my lab book – be sure to check out Page 141 !
 
Project Lead the Way is a national program that develops STEM [Science Technology Engineering and Math] skills.  For future investigation, here is the website:
https://www.pltw.org/
 
“Hunter Hartshorne and Jasper White [,two Ithaca, NY High School grads] stumbled upon an idea for a small portable generator while building a hunting cabin a few years ago.

‘While we were up there, we were doing all this manual labor without any electricity and we thought, man, it would be great if we had power tools or something,’ White explained.

A nearby stream of water sparked the idea.

‘We thought it would be a cool idea to bring electricity to that cabin, so it started as a little bit larger small-scale hydro-electric project,’ Hartshorne added.
​
The generator became the focus of their capstone project for Project Lead the Way… This summer, the teen entrepreneurs are working on their product line inside Cornell University's Hydraulics Lab, which is partnered with Rev Ithaca -- a business incubator.”
http://www.mytwintiers.com/news/local-news/ithaca-teens-create-hydroelectric-cell-phone-chargers
 
Here is some local news video about their hydroelectric cell-phone charger:
http://www.onenewspage.com/video/20160810/5267531/Ithaca-teens-create-hydroelectric-cell-phone-chargers.htm
 
Here is a page briefly discussing Hydropower:
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/hydropower/tech.html
Note in the right margin of this page that there are links to information about several Renewable Energy Sources.  The 21st Century challenge is to develop alternate energy sources to be able to phase out Nuclear Energy and the burning of Fossil Fuels.
 
“Project Lead The Way provides a transformative learning experience for K-12 students and teachers across the U.S. We create an engaging environment and empower students to develop in-demand knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in an evolving world.”
https://www.pltw.org/
 
You may want to explore the Project Lead the Way website and see what opportunities are available for teachers and students.
 
One page leads to various news articles about Project Lead the Way:
https://www.pltw.org/news
 
*This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom.  Check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.
 
Also, Write To Me about your successes, challenges, or questions in the Chemistry Classroom.
 
Remember, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful to your Chemistry classroom with labs and class article ideas.


Enjoy the rest of August!
​

Happy August of 2016!  You are probably thinking about the coming 2016-2017 school year.  The book Chemistry on a Budget contains inexpensive chemistry labs that are useful, especially at the beginning of your school year. 
 
Some of the early labs include Significant Figures, Density (3 labs), the Separation of a Mixture  (including Percent Composition), and Liquid Chromatography.  This way you have pretty safe labs that cover essential information, giving you time to emphasize Lab Safety and get Lab Safety Contracts signed.
 
You can buy this lab book for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com. It will take 1-2 weeks to get to you, so Order Now and you’ll have time with it and decide how to incorporate the labs into your class activities.
 
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
 
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. 
 
*Some of you have already purchased my lab book – be sure to check out Page 141 !
 
As stated last week, nuclear energy and concerns about nuclear waste have been the subject of several posts of this blog, including:
 
02/11/2015            Introduction to Nuclear Chemistry
02/18/2015            Nuclear Chemistry – Part II (Fission, Fusion & Half-Life)
08/06/2015            Post-Fukushima Restarts
10/30/2015            Current Event -- Radioactive Waste                                                                            from WWII
10/22/2015            The Future of Nuclear Fusion​
02/20/2016            Nuclear Waste and Lake Huron
03/26/2016            Nuclear Waste Storage
05/01/2016            30th Anniversary of Chernobyl  
07/31/2016            Cost of Nuclear Shutdown in Germany
 
In last week’s blog post, I discussed the timeline and cost of shutdown of Nuclear Power Plants in Germany.  This decision was made due to the accident at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan on March 11, 2011.
 
New York State is currently attempting to reduce the use of fossil fuels that emit carbon dioxide (CO2) to reduce its contribution to Global Climate Change.
 
Past blog posts related to Global Climate Change include:
11/06/2015            Inventions to Recycle Carbon Dioxide
02/06/2016            Carbon Dioxide Conversion to Methanol
04/03/2016            Permafrost Melting
 
According to one October 8, 2015 article, “Gov. Andrew Cuomo and former Vice President Al Gore met at Columbia University… to announce a handful of New York State actions on climate change…[including] a commitment to help keep the earth’s average temperature from increasing more than 2 degrees Celsius (or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100, as measured against pre-industrial levels.
‘In the case of climate change, denial is not a survival strategy,’ Cuomo said, pointing to predictions that suggest Manhattan and much of the East Coast could be swamped or otherwise reshaped by rising sea levels.
As is his wont, the governor pointed to the nine severe weather incidents that had occurred on his watch, from tropical storms Irene and Lee in 2011 to last year’s epic snowfall in Buffalo.”
http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/241677/cuomo-gore-announce-new-state-commitments-on-climate-change/?TB_iframe=true&width=921.6&height=921.6
 
“More and more, nuclear energy is recognized as part of a clean power portfolio. Surprisingly, the country’s third most populous state, New York, is diminishing its options in this regard.
Despite attempts by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to keep it open, energy company Entergy announced plans last November [of 2015] to close the James A. FitzPatrick nuclear power plant, near Syracuse. The facility employs more than 600 people, about 300 of whom are Syracuse, N.Y., Local 97 members, said Business Manager Ted Skerpon.
‘They want to go carbon-free but they are taking out the plants that help the state do just that,’ said Skerpon, who also chairs the IBEW Utility Labor Council of New York.”
http://www.ibew.org/media-center/Articles/16Daily/1603/160322_ClosingDown
 
“Nuclear power provides nearly 20 percent of U.S. electricity and 63 percent of its zero-carbon power. Opponents of nuclear power, including the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Sierra Club, maintain that both fossil fuel and nuclear energy sources can be fully replaced by renewables, primarily wind and solar.”
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602079/new-york-state-has-a-plan-to-rescue-nuclear-power/
 
New York State has the benefit of Niagara Falls – a hydropower plant generating electricity completed construction in 1961.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Moses_Niagara_Power_Plant
Not all areas currently have the advantage of the access or infrastructure to generate of clean energy (via water, wind or solar).
 
Several New York communities are concerned about the economic impact of closing nuclear power plants.
“… the [Fitzpatrick] nuclear plant [in Scriba, New York] drives economic activity of perhaps $500 million a year or more…”
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2015/10/closing_fitzpatrick_nuke_plant_could_cost_cny_economy_500m_a_year.html
 
Other nuclear power plants have closed and the economic impact spreads through the entire community.  For example, “[i]n the 17 years since Maine Yankee began dismantling its reactors and shedding its 600 workers, this small, coastal town north of Portland[, Maine] has experienced drastic changes: property taxes have spiked by more than 10 times for the town’s 3,700 residents, the number living in poverty has more than doubled as many professionals left, and town services and jobs have been cut.
‘I have yet to meet anyone happy that Maine Yankee is gone,’ said Laurie Smith, the town manager. “All these years later, we’re still feeling the loss of jobs, the economic downturn, and the huge tax increases.”
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/09/17/nuclear-plant-closes-and-town-feels-pain-for-years-afterward/a09EcMFb69AcLMzOxa9PcL/story.html
 
Nuclear power does have safety issues. For example, “[o]ne of [New York’s nuclear power plants,”Indian Point, … [had a reactor]…shut down…[on December, 11, 2015] after several control rods lost power, the plant owner said, marking the latest in a series of mishaps at the suburban New York plant this year. …
The plant’s other reactor, Indian Point 3, remained running. Together, the two reactors supply about one-fourth of the power used in New York City and Westchester County.
The plant has experienced a number of unplanned shutdowns this year. Indian Point 3 was shut down for a time in July after a water pump problem, and in June because of an electrical disturbance at a switch yard outside the plant. A water-system alarm failure in January led workers to start shutting down one of the reactors, although repairs were made and the shutdown reversed.”
http://www.oneidadispatch.com/article/OD/20151207/NEWS/151209854
 
There are many pros and cons of keeping Nuclear Power Plants open and of closing them.  All could be researched and/or debated by your students.  Here is another “real world issue” that your students will have to be dealing with in their lifetimes.
 
Please let me know how you have incorporated this topic in your classroom.
 
*This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom.  Check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.
 
Also, Write To Me about your successes, challenges, or questions in the Chemistry Classroom.
 
Remember, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful to your Chemistry classroom with labs and class article ideas.

Enjoy the rest of August!