September 2007
Vol 44, No 5. Selected articles and reviews available online to all. Full issue available online to subscribers.
Column
RSC rewards innovative teachers
Michael Hayward of Birkenhead School, Oxton, Wirral and the University of Leicester's Dr Jonny Woodward receive RSC teaching awards
Non-specialist teachers on course
Non-specialist chemistry teachers benefit from tailored Inset course thanks to the RSC and GlaxoSmithKline
H2-powered racing car on tour
The world's first hydrogen-powered Formula Student racing car will be one of the attractions of this year's Chemistry Week national tour
Students join a growing community
Since its launch in September 2006 some 1200 UK students have joined ChemNet
UK students tough it out
UK students medal at the finals of the 39th International Chemistry Olympiad competition, held at Moscow State University in Russia in July
Ideas for teaching Earth science
A new initiative, launching in 2008 as part of the International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE), will offer science teachers fresh ideas on teaching about Earth science
In brief
Items: Various short items
Soundbite molecules - no laughing matter
Simon Cotton, teacher at Uppingham School, takes a look at those compounds that find themselves in the news or relate to our everyday lives. In this issue: no laughing matter
Chemistry trails
Peter Borrows brings us another excursion into local chemistry. In this issue: concrete stalactites
Product review
In this column John Emsley, University of Cambridge, looks at the chemistry behind familiar, everyday products. In this issue: air fresheners
Web watch
Tony Tooth takes a look at some websites that may be of interest to chemistry teachers. In this issue: databases of resources and information to use in chemistry lessons.
Letters
Letters
Education in Chemistry Letters, September 2007
Exhibition Chemistry
Silane, an analogue of methane
Demonstrations designed to capture the student's imagination, by Adrian Guy of Blundell's School In this issue: silane, an analogue of methane
Features
Nanotechnology update
The past 10 years have witnessed myriad R&D programmes in nanotechnology around the world
Cocaine - a short trip in time
In the latter half of the 19th century chemists started to investigate the properties of cocaine. Elucidation of its molecular structure followed some 30 years later
Harnessing solar energy with Grätzel cells
Chemists from the Universities of Loughborough and Bristol have teamed up to take a research-based project into local schools
Build your own spectrophotometer
By designing and building their own visible-light spectrophotometers, students get to grips with the underlying principles of this widely used analytical tool
Reviews
Go with the flow
Peter Hollamby
Investigating chemistry. A forensic science perspective
Matthew E. Johll
Chemistry in your life (2nd edn)
Colin Baird
The atlas of climate change
Kirstin Dow and Thomas E. Downing
An introduction to pollution science
Roy M. Harrison (ed)
Maths for chemists
Maths for chemists - displaying data
Tips for teaching maths skills to our future chemists, by Paul Yates of Keele University In this issue: displaying data
Distillates
Textbook explanation
How certain phenomena are explained in key undergraduate chemistry texts is the focus of a study by Vicente Talanquer of the University of Arizona
Online discussion
US researchers report on an online discussion system which is designed to integrate and support scientific discussions within the classroom
Making the most of Museum trips
Jennifer DeWitt and Jonathan Osborne of King's College, London offer a framework designed to enhance the effectiveness of visits to science museums
Infochem
