Teaching Chemistry

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Taking Chemistry to New Heights
A Portable Chemistry Lab
and Down the Street
and Down the Street
This presentation is a follow-up of an earlier
presentation
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LEARNING CHEMISTRY CLOSE TO HOME WITH DISTANCE
LEARNING
WHICH IS CLOSER?
Traditional
Distance Learning
Which is closer, Distance Learning or Traditional
classes. As my title implies distance learning is
the answer. I will illustrate that with this
image
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MESA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
The red line is the perimeter of Mesa Community
College. The chemistry labs are located in the
yellow square. No students live on campus so
chemistry labs are not close to anyone.
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As we zoom out we see how far chemistry is from
students.
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180 square miles
Our campus focuses on students in a 180 square
mile area. When you think how far students go to
do a lab. A traditional lab class should be the
one called distance learning.
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MCC
Some students have traveled a few hundred miles
to take chemistry classes. One such student came
a small town near the New Mexico border.
274 Miles
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That students name is Lonnie. He needed an
Organic Chemistry class to get into dentistry
school. He gave up a 60,000 a year job and had
to rent an apartment in Mesa while taking the
class. His wife was 6 months pregnant, who
stayed at home. Lonnie drove back and forth each
weekend. He took my Distance Ed chemistry class
lab electives, which he could anywhere but he
had to travel to our college to take the organic
class.
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When students make choices they consider the
convenience of Distance Ed classes versus the
extra travel time and often extra expense of
traditional classes.
CHOICES
SCHEDULE
EXTRA TIME EXPENSE
CONVENIENCE
Postpone graduation
Graduate on schedule
Distance Ed
Traditional
A choice is also made based on their schedule.
This often translates to graduating on schedule
or postponing graduation.
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For example, Jeff is a fireman in a masters
program that required he take a chemistry class.
His fireman schedule couldnt adapt to to the
rigidity of a traditional class.
Jeff
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He was so appreciative that I had distance ed
version of a chemistry class that satisfied that
requirement.
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Having a similar unconventional schedule was Ken
who is a bomb squad technician for Phoenix. This
distance chemistry ed class allowed him to
proceed with his educational goals.
Ken
This has many advantages. First is convenience.
For many that's the difference between going to
school or not.
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Crystal worked for a company who sent her on week
long business trips. The flexibility of my
distance ed classes allowed her to do the labs at
home when she got into town.
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Thank you so much for offering an online lab
science class! I couldn't graduate on time
without it. - Ryan Evjen
Ryan, here, was working on a summer research
project in Houston The portable chemistry lab
allowed him to take his class with him. This is
what he said
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Megan often took her chemistry kit with her when
she worked evenings at a animal hospital. When
things got slow she could work on her labs. She
also learned about the quality of the water and
air at the clinic.
Megan
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Yvonne
This is Yvonne, a single mom who juggled classes
at Arizona State University and Mesa Community
College. She said the distance ed class was
perfect for her hectic schedule. She has five
children.
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CANCER TREATMENTS
I feel especially proud of helping Kathy. She
was also a single mother and undergoing cancer
treatments. She couldnt attend the normal
schedule of a traditional class. I got to see
her graduate last May.
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CHOICES
MOVING
Drop out
Stay in class
Traditional
Distance Ed
After the semester is under way, students may
also have to make the choice of staying in class
or dropping out. A common reason was they were
moving. My portable chemistry kit combined with
self paced learning allowed them to stay in the
class.
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Sam and his wife Melissa had to move to Michigan
about half way through the semester. Almost
immediately after arriving in Michigan they
continued sending in the lab reports and
photographs.
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Bonnie
Bonnies husband returned from Iraq and got
stationed in Texas. She was able to take her kit
with her to Texas to finish the class.
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Terri
Teri was another student who moved, yet stayed in
class.
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Scott
As was Scott.
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Alyson
Alyson had to return to her school in Illinois
sooner than expected. She picked up her kit
early and was able to get the labs done in time.
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RELEVANCE
HEALTH
For Others Elsewhere
For Family at Home
Traditional
Distance Ed
An important difference between distance ed and
traditional chemistry labs is relevance. The
labs for the distance ed class relates to the
family at home. A traditional lab means you are
doing it for others elsewhere. especially
regarding health issues.
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This is Heath who was anxious to do the lab that
uses a portable air pump to collect air samples.
His son Hunter, here, was often hospitalized
with severe allergy reactions to pollens and
molds in the air. The awards belong to his son
whose future in sports depends on the quality of
air he breathes.
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Claudia
One of the labs checks the quality of water in
the home. One test in the lab is for nitrate and
nitrites. Claudia found out her water was right
on the border of having unhealthy levels of
nitrate and nitrites. I asked if she had any
babies at home because they are particularly
vulnerable to nitrates. She said, no, but her
neighbor had a young baby. I told her to test
her neighbors water.
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Speaking of relevancy, how important is knowing
the ozone level that your children are breathing?
Ginger is showing the ozone detection strips she
will use at home.
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Cale, a junior high teacher, is checking out the
efficiency of filter materials with his
daughters help.
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Tonya has two daughters at home that shes
concerned about.
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My students always saw the relevancy of the
experiments because the results gave them
knowledge that impacted themselves and their
children. No experiment in a traditional
chemistry lab has that level of relevancy.
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PARTICIPANTS
Do it alone
Involve family/friends
Traditional
Distance Ed
As you noticed there are different participants
in distance ed versus traditional classes.
Distance Ed labs can involve family and friends.
For a traditional lab, they do it alone or with a
lab partner, usually someone they dont know.
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I first want to point out that the chemicals in
the kit are very safe. On the zero to 4 national
fire protection association scale for health,
nothing is over 1, which is the same as chalk.
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This is Andrea, she lives in California and
often would have her younger brother help her.
Andrea and younger brother
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Tanya
Tanya has two boys and a neighbor who is a
chemist who also has two boys. Normally, its
the chemist next door that plays Mr. Wizard with
the boys. But the semester she did the lab, she
was the wizard.
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Yvonne
Yvonne said that normally when she did school
work, she had to tell her five children to leave
her alone. But when she did these labs, she was
happy that she could involve them.
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For example, two of her kids are digging a hole
to find a soil sample
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Another one has cup ready to measure the soil
sample.
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And she gets to stir the sample to extract the
soil nutrients.
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In another experiment that utilizes a
spectroscope, all of her kids got to learn how to
tell the difference between the spectrums of
energy efficient lights and energy wasteful
lights.
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Its not just the kids that get involved.
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Lonnie involved his mothers friend, Noreen, in
preparing borax crosslinked polyvinyl alcohol.
Also known as slime.
Lonnie and Noreen
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The lady in the middle is a middle school teacher
who was a mutual friend of the two guys. The
guys were taking my distance ed chemistry class
but she did the labs with them so she could learn
what demonstrations she could use in her classes.
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SCIENCE LITERACY
FULL
LIMITED
ACCESS
APPLIED
THEORETICAL
Distance Ed
Traditional
Another important consequence of having chemistry
kits at home has to do with science literacy. It
derives from access. With the kit at home
students have full access to these tools. In a
traditional classes, it is very limited. In
addition, students doing labs at home see the
knowledge applied. In a traditional class, even
hands-on activities seem theoretical to them.
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Computer Literacy Soared
Science Literacy Will Soar
Computers in the Home
TOOLS OF SCIENCE AT HOME
We all probably recall the days that having a
computer at home seemed far fetched with limited
usefulness for individuals. But when computers
got into the homes, we found that computer
literacy soared and there was much more used than
anyone realized. In a similar manner, if we get
the tools of science in the home, science
literacy will soar and we will promote critical
thinking and independent investigation.
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Lonnie was about to buy a home water purification
system and luckily just finished a lab that
tested different filters. He said he was more
than ready to discuss the issues with the vendors
who were calling him.
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In a related story, Alyson was approached by a
door to door purified water salesman. He told
her that water in her area was bad, which she
already knew because she tested it. He said that
his company would do a free analysis of her water
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Instead of giving him her water, she gave him a
sample of that companys own water. You see, her
neighbor had regular deliveries of that water and
had given Alyson a jug of it. The salesman took
the water and returned the next day telling her
how bad her water was. She revealed that the
water she gave him was the same water that he was
selling.
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Marie and Brother, Thomas
I was happy to hear that Thomas, the young
brother of my student, Marie, had set his sight
on becoming a chemist because of the positive
experience he had helping her.
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This is Juli. This is what she said about the
class.

• I wanted to personally thank you for this class,
  I am 41 yrs old and have always hated and
  disliked chemistry. You have provided me the
  opportunity to discover the benefits and actual
  application in my day to day life regarding
  chemistry.-Juli

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Rachel involved her son with the experiments.
Her son was having some trouble understanding the
filter experiment so Rachel wadded up some screen
material and showed her son how it could allow
water though while blocking pebbles, thus
demonstrating how a mechanical filter worked.
Rachel
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Cale had done the experiment with sodium
polyacrylate which absorbs 300 times its own
weight in water. In the experiment it was
created as a soil substitute.
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However, he told me that he also used the
saturated crystals to provide water for crickets
that he fed to his collared lizard. The crickets
would often drown in liquid water, but the sodium
polyacrylate provided the crickets water without
the hazard of drowning.
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Learning Chemistry Close to Home with Distance
Learning has many benefits.
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First of all, a portable chemistry lab truly
brings chemistry home.
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Using green chemistry practices, safe chemicals
and experiments can be devised and ones relevant
to their everyday life can be designed.
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• 18 tests of soil, water, and air
• Evaluation of different types of water filters
• Energy Experiments

• Creation of Polymers
• Light spectrum analysis
• UV light detection

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RECYCLING
Used cooking oil (biodiesel)Paper Plastic
Recycling may be more than simply tossing items
in a recycle bin. With a little chemistry
students can recycle their own items
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For example, I am teaching a Community Ed class
on how to make biodiesel from used cooking oil.
Even organic synthesis can be done at home.
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I love when students come by to pick up the kit.
I feel science education is being exported to
where it will do the most good.
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Science will be connected to thei vehicles they
drive. For example, I have them check the
exhaust of their vehicle.
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Im please to see my college students getting
their kids involved.
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Its great to see smiles on their faces as they
send me digital images of themselves doing the
labs.
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Sometimes the look is whimsical and amused.
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I love it when the chemistry is done outdoors.
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Its great to see them do analysis of the water,
air, and soil.
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Again, its great to see students smile
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Or not smile Some take it seriously, which is
good, too.
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Its great to see them take science on the road.
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or to the side of the road. These two students
joined forces to do their labs. They met at
different locations, which was possible with the
portable kit.
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I mostly saw students becoming more confident as
they realized they could do chemistry on their
own in their own space.
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This is a kind of confidence not achieved with
traditional labs or virtual labs.
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To see details about the course, visit my website
at www.chemistryland.com
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Find the course called CHM-107 and check out the
lab and lecture portions of the class.