distilling international year of chemistry activities from around the world
TRANSCRIPT
130 Journal of Chemical Education
_Vol. 88 No. 2 February 2011
_pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
_r2010 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
10.1021/ed101133m Published on Web 12/10/2010
Chemical Education Today
Distilling International Year of Chemistry Activitiesfrom around the Worldby Alice J. Teter
Journal of Chemical Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53715,United [email protected]
After the 63rd General Assembly of the United Nations(UN) adopted the resolution proclaiming 2011 as the Interna-tional Year of Chemistry (IYC), the International Union of Pureand Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the United Nations,United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisa-tion (UNESCO) were placed at the helm of this global event.Stemming from their belief that the achievements of chemistryand its contributions to the well-being of humankind should becelebrated, they have identified these four key goals for IYC2011:
• Increase public appreciation of chemistry in meeting worldneeds.
• Encourage an interest in chemistry among young people.• Generate enthusiasm for the creative future of chemistry.• Celebrate the achievements of Marie Curie and the contribu-tions of women to chemistry.
The official IYC 2011 Web site at http://www.chemis-try2011.org/ (accessed Dec 2010) serves as a central location forinformation about activities worldwide associated with thiscelebration. The IYC logo (Figure 1), which appears promi-nently on thisWeb site, may also appear in other places that haveinformation about IYC activities.
Please check the IYCWeb site frequently. The informationthere changes almost daily, and you will not want to miss anevent, project opportunity, meeting, or contest deadline.
Celebrating the International Year of Chemistry 2011
IYC 2011 International Launching Ceremony
TheOfficial International LaunchCeremony for IYC 2011will take place at UNESCO World Headquarters in Paris on27-28 January 2011, under the aegis of the UN,UNESCO, andIUPAC. The agenda for this event includes an internationalseminar, an exhibition, and other related social and culturalevents.
IYC and the Journal of Chemical Education
As part of the Journal's participation in IYC, we arewatching the IYC Web site. Some items have already caughtthe eyes of our staff members as particularly interesting, or fun, ormodels that other organizations might use to generate their owncelebrations.
We are also interested in “inside information” about IYC2011 activities, and invite developers and organizers as well asparticipants to write brief descriptions of how their activities
were developed, who participated, outcomes, and other mean-ingful information, and submit these to the Journal for con-sideration for publication.
Get Involved with IYC Activities, Events, and Ideas
The IYC Web site presents all manner of interestingmaterial: activities, events, and the groups sponsoring them.From the home page, “Connect” to the IYC Network, whichlists the people and groups who have registered events oractivities, and national primary contact people. Browsing thenetwork may help you find a local (and enthusiastic) expert,mentor, or partner for a project of your own, or even someonewho is doing something quite similar to your project, yet inanother part of the world. Join the network and register yourown activities, events, and ideas.
“Participate” by looking at the ideas, events, and activitiesthat have been registered. Note that new ones continue to beadded. Each has audience and topic tags, and useful filters areavailable for searches. When you find activities of interest, youcan participate in those that are nearby, or model and create yourown activities with distant programs as an inspiration.
A very small sampling of activities appears in Table 1. (Weomitted locations; this was not an oversight.) Have a look at theWeb site; you will almost certainly find it enlightening andenjoyable: http://www.chemistry2011.org/ (accessedDec 2010).
Figure 1. The International Year of Chemistry 2011 logo identifiesmany chemistry-related exciting events and engaging activities through-out the year and around the world. Visit http://www.chemistry2011.org/ (accessed Dec 2010) to find out more.
r2010 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
_pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
_Vol. 88 No. 2 February 2011
_Journal of Chemical Education 131
Chemical Education Today
Table 1. Sampling of Some International Year of Chemistry Activities Offered throughout the World
Activity Description Audience URLs (all accessed Dec 2010)
Games and Competitions
Dr. O'Too City ofChemistry
Interactive chemistry computergame played via Facebook
Middle andhigh school
http://www.chemistry2011.org/participate/activities/show?id=166
http://apps.facebook.com/dr_otoo
Australian NationalChemistry Quiz
Offered in 15 countries and7 languages, this quiz challengesstudents' reasoning
Middle andhigh school
http://www.chemistry2011.org/participate/activities/show?id=45
A World withoutPolymers
Video and essay contestrecognizing the ubiquity andimportance of polymers
High schooland college
http://www.chemistry2011.org/participate/activities/show?id=100
UndergraduateOrganicCompetition
Students will be timed answeringmultiple-choice organicchemistry questions; videowill be posted on YouTube
College http://www.chemistry2011.org/participate/activities/show?id=144
Outreach Activities
Children's ChemicalExperiment Show
Interactive chemistrydemonstrations in ascience museum context
Elementaryschool
http://www.chemistry2011.org/participate/activities/show?id=190
Yamagata FutureScience Project
Chemistry experiments atYamagata University andlocal schools
Middle andhigh school
http://www.chemistry2011.org/participate/activities/show?id=163
Chemikum Marburg Chemistry demonstrations, publicexploration stations, workshopsfor students
Public outreach http://www.chemistry2011.org/participate/activities/show?id=238
EstonianChemistry Days
Conference with poster sessionsopen to the public atTartu University
Public outreach http://www.chemistry2011.org/participate/activities/show?id=150
Super ScienceSaturday
Chemistry demonstrations,hands-on activities,poster displays,live feed from IYC openingevents in Paris
Public outreach http://www.chemistry2011.org/participate/activities/show?id=53
Chemistry and Art
Global StampCompetition:Chemistry as aCultural Enterprise
Students design stampsreflecting the importanceof chemistry locally;entries will be shownat the IYC closingceremonies in Brusselsand winningentries selected
High school http://www.chemistry2011.org/participate/activities/show?id=110
Chem13 NewsPeriodic TableDesign Project
Students create an element tile,contributing their design to thewhole periodic table collectivelymade and publically displayedby poster and online
Elementary, middleand highschool
http://www.chemistry2011.org/participate/activities/show?id=42
http://www.chem13news.uwaterloo.ca
Workshops and Poster Sessions by High School Students
Symposium forYoung Researchersof Natural Sciences
Students conduct researchin chemistry and give anoral presentation oftheir results
High school http://www.chemistry2011.org/participate/activities/show?id=155
Chemistry PopularizationWorkshops
Students take a chemistry quiz,attend lectures, and havetheir attitudes andmisconceptions challenged
Middle andhigh school
http://www.chemistry2011.org/participate/activities/show?id=193
132 Journal of Chemical Education
_Vol. 88 No. 2 February 2011
_pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
_r2010 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
Chemical Education Today
Table 1. Continued
Activity Description Audience URLs (all accessed Dec 2010)
Bilingual Activities
Química en Todo:Chemistry AllAround
Students write a blog in Spanishand English, reporting the resultsof their research on chemistryall around us
High school http://www.chemistry2011.org/participate/activities/show?id=128
http://bscw.unizar.es/pub/bscw.cgi/526623
Did�actica de laQuímica y VidaCotidiana: Didacticsof Chemistry andEveryday Life
Students explore chemistry problems,exercises, experiments, andanalogies about everydaymaterials and experiences,accessing free resourcesonline mainly in Spanish andsome in English
High schooland college
http://www.chemistry2011.org/participate/activities/show?id=21