Encourages instruction about disposal of hazardous wastes in college chemistry laboratories as an integral part of experiments done by students. Discusses methods such as down-the-drain disposal, lab-pack disposal, precipitation and disposal, and precipitation and recovery. Suggests that faculty and students take more responsibility for waste…

Discusses the potential of experiments as a vehicle and to motivate students to use text references to look up further information such as nomenclature, molecular geometry, properties and reactivities for various ions and molecules. Describes the procedures and discussion for three such experiments. (TW)

Describes an activity in which students collect airborne particles using a common vacuum cleaner. Suggests ways for the students to convert their data into information related to air pollution and human health. Urges consideration of weather patterns when analyzing the results of the investigation. (TW)

Argues that cookbook chemistry laboratory experiments do little to teach scientific inquiry. Suggests providing students with laboratory experiences that follow the introduction of a concept and challenge students to investigate that concept through an experiment involving very few initial instructions. Lists some such challenges used in chemistry…

Describes two laboratory demonstrations in chemistry. One uses dry ice, freon, and freezer bags to demonstrate volume changes, vapor-liquid equilibrium, a simulation of a rain forest, and vaporization. The other uses the clock reaction technique to illustrate fast reactions and kinetic problems in releasing carbon dioxide during respiration. (TW)

Identifies specific science skill activities and discusses how they can be enhanced using the microcomputer in a laboratory setting. Highlights the benefits, advantages, and applications of microcomputers in physics laboratories. (ML)

Reports on a study into the effectiveness of implementing an interactive videodisc science lesson on titration into a high school science program. Describes the titration lesson and the equipment used in two chemistry classes. Results were generated from achievement and attitude instruments, along with observational data. (TW)

Discusses the establishment of a high school chemistry instrumentation center designed to retrain teachers, improve precollege preparation of high school chemistry students, and to make simple chemical instruments at a minimal cost. (TW)

Proposes that the psychological problem of students expecting a particular result in an organic chemistry laboratory and, therefore, working in an unthinking manner be attacked by assigning experiments that give students unexpected results. Gives four examples of such experiments with strategies for teaching them. (CW)

Describes an experiment that is to be performed midway in the first semester of an undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory coinciding with the students' introduction to cis-trans isomerism in the study of alkenes. Discusses the apparatus, materials, experimental procedure, historical significance, and results. (CW)

Discusses the need to design distillation columns that are more energy efficient. Describes a "design and build" project completed by two college students aimed at demonstrating the principles of vapour compression distillation in a more energy efficient way. General design specifications are given, along with suggestions for teaching…

Describes a laboratory course taught at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (United Kingdom) which focuses on the preparation, properties, and applications of end-use products of the chemical industry. Outlines laboratory experiments on dyes, fibers, herbicides, performance testing, antioxidants, and surface active…

Discusses the goals of learning cycle laboratories in helping students acquire knowledge about a specific topic and to do so moving in a non-threatening way from the concrete operational level to the formal operational level. Describes an experiment designed for such laboratories dealing with the topic of oxidation-reduction. (TW)

Describes a British secondary school's use of a spectrometer to identify minerals. Discusses the origins of mineral spectra, the preparation of the specimen, the actual spectroscopic scanning, and the interpretation of the spectra. (TW)

Advocates the use of discovery or guided inquiry experiments for developing critical thinking in problem solving. Provides a stepwise method for creating inquiry experiments and provides an example by comparing the two methods for a freezing point experiment. (JM)