Understanding how the periodic table of elements is organized and how to read information from it is fundamental for understanding chemistry. Introductory chemistry courses usually include discussions detailing what elemental information can be determined by virtue of its position on the periodic table. Although many people have been exposed to…

Nearly everyone loves chocolate, which makes this an excellent topic for communicating scientific concepts to the general public and to students in the classroom. Here we present the outline and activities for an interactive presentation on the science of chocolate for nonspecialists and their children ages 6 and up. We design the presentation…

Interest in undergraduate student research has grown in response to initiatives from various professional societies and educational organizations. Participation in research changes student attitudes towards courses as they realize the utility and relevance of what they are learning. At the U.S. Naval Academy, the chemistry majors' curriculum was…

Nanoscale science and engineering (NSE) and nanotechnology are emerging fields that have captured the attention of scientists and engineers, as well as mainstream media. However, the general public is relatively unaware of NSE, and schools (both K-12 and undergraduate institutions) rarely include nanotechnology as part of their curriculum. To help…

Nanoscience and nanotechnology currently represent one of the most rapidly developing fields of science and technology; therefore, the fundamental principles of nanoscience and nanotechnology should be understood by college and even high school students as well as by members of scientific communities. Silver, as the pioneer material in these…

For the field of chemistry to play a leading role in the science and technology sector of the U.S. economy it must recruit and retain the best and brightest talent from all segments of our society. Currently in the United States there is a significant disparity in the recruitment and retention of women relative to their male counterparts,…

Chemists continue to work at the forefront of materials science research. Recent advances include application of bioengineering to produce plastics from renewable biomass instead of petroleum, generation of paper-based batteries, and development of phototriggerable microcapsules for chemical delivery. In this article, the author provides summaries…

Using a Socratic language while implementing the mole concept in the general chemistry curriculum has become a recent trend to teach adult learners.