Although vacuum technology is essential to many aspects of modern physical and analytical chemistry, vacuum experiments are rarely the focus of undergraduate laboratories. We describe an experiment that introduces students to vacuum science and mass spectrometry. The students first assemble a vacuum system, including a mass spectrometer. While…

The teaching of instrumental analysis for many small colleges and high schools continues to be stymied by high-cost, complicated maintenance, high power requirements, and often the sheer bulk of the instrumentation. Such issues have led us to develop inexpensive instruments as part of a SMILE initiative (small, mobile instruments for laboratory…

Kindergartners have an energizing sense of wonder and an insatiable desire to learn about the world around them. For this reason, the study of ecosystems and how organisms interact within their environment is very exciting for these young learners. An appropriate place for young students to start constructing their own understanding of living and…

Stanley Micklavzina, a US physics educator on sabbatical, teams up with a Swedish national research laboratory, a synchrotron radiation experimental group and a university science centre to develop and create educational and public outreach projects. Descriptions of the physics, science centre displays and public demonstrations covering the…

A makerspace is a place where makers can envision a project, find an expert, and create something. Libraries have always held programming during which patrons were able to come in and create. The makerspace at the Lamar Middle School in Flower Mound, Texas, is available for students every day, so that they can daily create and play with innovative…

A rigorous K-12 science education builds student knowledge in core scientific content and equips students to analyze problems, use evidence, and investigate solutions. The education requirements of careers across the economy are increasing and all students--regardless of whether they pursue science as a career--need greater proficiency in the…

Many students share the common belief that the limiting reactant in a chemical reaction is the reactant in the smallest quantity of material. To help students overcome this difficulty a hands-on activity for the limiting reactant concept was developed. The activity incorporates the three levels of representation (macroscopic, submicroscopic, and…

David Orr's classic article links education to living in the outdoors and studying all disciplines through the unifying lens of place. Pedagogy of place counters abstraction, it is the natural world embodying principles of learning that involve direct observation, investigation, experimentation, and manual skills. Place is the laboratory providing…

Renewable energy is the most rapidly growing discipline in today's business world and is commonly viewed as the main arena for research and development in various fields. This article summarizes the work and efforts of an educational project conducted at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU). A major goal of the project was to design renewable…

When you dive underwater, you feel the pressure on your ears and, as you dive deeper, more pressure is felt. This article presents an activity that teachers might find useful for demonstrating the relationship between water depth and pressure. (Contains 5 figures and 1 table.)

Open day activities rarely give applicants a real sense of the practical and intellectual work that goes on in university chemistry departments. We devised an experiment for year 13 (age 17-18) students based on the size-dependent colours of gold nanoparticles and linked this to current research in diagnostic medicine. The experience was designed…

We outline protocols for producing slant-minis (SLINIs) and mini-deeps (MEEPs) and examples of their use in simple microbiology experiments suitable for high school students. The principal benefits of these protocols are decreased cost associated with significantly reduced media use; easier, less expensive disposal of waste; and increased safety…

Pacific Lutheran University (Tacoma, WA) is renowned for the number of its courses that offer international and study-away opportunities. Inspired by the theme of sustainability, and my growing concern about the environmental impact of conventional fuels, I offered a course, Physics of Energy, for the first time during PLU's January 2011 term (a…

An undergraduate laboratory experiment is described to measure Henry's law constants of organic compounds using a bubble column and gas chromatography flame ionization detector (GC-FID). This experiment is designed for upper-division undergraduate laboratory courses and can be implemented in conjunction with physical chemistry, analytical…

As part of "The Blue Marble" project, the Universities of Leicester and Nottingham, UK, have developed day-long, interdisciplinary, hands-on workshops for primary schools to introduce space technology and the role of the research scientist. The workshop activities introduce 5-11 year olds to the role of the UK space industry, show the…