Chemistry and chemical products play an extremely important role in many aspects of daily living. From clothes (chemical fibers, etc.), food ( agrichemicals, fertilizers, etc. ) and houses (construction materials such as carpet and wall papers) to computers and automobiles, they all could not exist in their present forms without chemical products and technology.　To raise the awareness and understanding of such chemical technology and products, the Japan Chemical Industry Association has established the “Dream Chemistry 21”Organizing Committee (The Chemical Society of Japan ; The Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan; The Association for the Progress of New Chemistry; and Japan Chemical Industry Association), which together with academic centers and with the support of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, has engaged in its campaign activity since 1993.　The “Dream Chemistry 21” campaign aims at promoting the importance of chemical technology and the usefulness of chemical products, particularly by appealing to young people's interest in the wonders of chemistry, and, at the same time, fostering internationally active chemists.

Japan Chemical Industry Association

Tolook,to

touch,

to enjoy,

and to think ― Encounters with Chemistry

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“Summer Holiday Children's Experiment Show” is a participation-type event for elementary and junior high school students that involves experimenting with chemical products they would not have the opportunity to experience at school and participating in a quiz show that helps understand chemistry in fun ways. We hold the show every year for three days in late August in Tokyo in cooperation with companies, industry associations, university professors and teachers, senior high schools and junior high schools. From 2002 through 2004, we held the show at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation Hall.Although the specific program of the show changes every year, the basic elements consist of the following four pillars:

　 Experiment Corner Centering on the member companies of the Japan Chemical Industry Association, we establish about 10 performance booths. Children can observe experiments using the products that participating companies produce and enjoy handicrafts. So far, we have picked up various themes such as“Play with a solar battery,”“Great experiment that glitteringly changes,”“Mysterious glass that you can see or you cannot see,”“Mysterious plastic that returns to its original shape,”“Let’s produce color photos,”and“Mysterious film that becomes a speaker and also a microphone.”By using materials which are unique to chemical companies, children have many different experiences and discover many new things.

　 Experiment in the Classroom With professors and teachers of The Chemical Society of Japan and researchers of chemical companies as leaders, we hold such experiments as“Let's play with slime,”“Let's make a manganese battery,”“Let's make herb soap,”“Let's make a hand print,”“Dream plastic battery,”“Let’s make an original bookmarker with high-performance plastic,”and“What color is black ?”About 30 to 50 children partici-pate in one classroom, and some of those participate for their summer holiday homework.

　 Quiz Show This program is a show that professors and teachers of member universities and senior high schools of The Chemical Society of Japan have produced for elementary and junior high school students. There is also an “ex-planation corner” where answers are explained in an easy-to-understand manner. The program is very popular as a means to enjoy gaining chemical knowledge. Although difficult questions are also asked, elementary and junior high school students compete earnestly for the prize given to those with correct answers.

Chemical Experiment Show Professors and teachers of member universities and senior high schools of Tthe Chemical Society of Japan conduct a show involving experiments with such titles as “Chemical magic show with colors and lights,”and“Let's take a look at the world of extremely low temperature.”

“Dream Chemistry 21” Summer Holiday Children’s Chemical Experiment Show

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QUIZ SHOW

With“Why?.... I see !”as the concept, we carry out the following activities under the“Dream Chemistry 21”campaign to promote the understanding of and the interest in the wonders of chemistry and the usefulness of chemical products through direct experience with experiments.

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“Dream Chemistry 21” Summer Holiday

Children’s Chemical Experiment Show

“Dream Chemistry 21” Summer Holiday

Children’s Chemical Experiment Show

“Dream Chemistry 21” Summer Holiday

Children’s Chemical Experiment Show

On Saturdays and Sundays, we hold a unique experiment classroom program that cannot be experienced at schools in conjunction with nationwide science museums, including Science Museum in Tokyo as a venue. Using materials provided by member companies of the Japan Chemical Industry Association, experiments are conducted on such themes as“Let's study the wonder of light by using a light polarizing board,”“We clean the dirt this way ― work of a surfactant,”“Science of adhesives― why do they adhere ?,”“Let's make muddy water clean,” and“Why do instant adhesives bond so fast ?”At the same time, the principles behind the experiments are also explained in an easy-to-understand manner.The classroom sessions are held at the Science Museum, Tokyo, every Saturday from September through March the next year and the venues expand nationwide year by year.

We distribute materials for experiments provided by member companies of the Japan Chemical Industry Association as well as manuals providing explanations for experiments to science museums nationwide and teachers at schools to encourage them to hold their own experiment classrooms. We distribute primarily the mate-rials we use for “Weekend Experiment Classroom.”

From the expectation that children will learn the basics of chemistry and have an interest in it through experiments, we have held public lectures for elementary to junior and senior high school students since 1993 with the cooperation of universities and higher technical schools nationwide. Although the timing, participants and themes differ from classroom to classroom, we held such lectures at 53 univer-sities, 2 technical schools and 12 higher technical schools in 2004.

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“Dream Chemistry 21” Weekend Experiment Classroom

University/Higher Technical School Chemical Experiment Experience Classroom

Activity to Distribute Teaching Materials for Experiments

Activity to Distribute Teaching Materials for Experiments

University/Higher Technical School

Chemical Experiment Experience Classroom

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To Contribute in Fostering Internationally Active Young ChemistsThis is the objective of another major activity of the“Dream Chemistry 21”campaign. We hold a“Nationwide Senior High School Chemistry Grand Prix Contest”and at the same time, dispatch students to the“International Chemistry Olympiad.”

This is an event for senior high school students across the nation to display their capability in chemistry through written examinations and skill tests. We began extending this contest nationwide in 1999 and the number of participants has increased every year. In 2004, more than 1,200 students participated in this contest and we awarded prizes to those with superior records. Also, in 2004 we obtained support from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, making it a contest that truly represents a“national contest in chemistry.”In addition, since we decided to participate in the Inter-national Chemistry Olympiad in 2002, we have selected the representatives for the next year's International Chemistry Olympiad from among junior and sophomore students of senior high schools.Every year, we hold an initial selection (written test) in late July at about 25 universities and senior high schools and a second selection (skill test) in late August at a university in Tokyo. In addition, we hold a ceremony to give awards to those with superior records in the Grand Prix contest and to certify representatives for next year's Olympiad in Tokyo in November. As a memorable part of the ceremony, we ask chemists who have made a substantial contribution to chemistry, such as Nobel Prize winner Professor Ryoji Noyori and Professor Akira Fujishima, who is famous for his invention of the photo-caxtalyzer, to give a lecture.

Nationwide Senior High School Chemistry Grand Prix Contest

Nationwide Senior High School

Chemistry Grand Prix Contest

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There are six scholarship Olympiads for the world's senior high school students — mathematics, chemistry, physics, information technology, biology, and astronomy. Although Japan had participated in only mathematics until 2002, the “Dream Chemistry 21”Organizing Committee and The Council of Chemical Education of The Chemical Society of Japan dispatched for the first time four students representa-tives selected from the participants in the Grand Prix contest to the International Chemistry Olympiad in 2003. The International Chemistry Olympiad, which was started in 1968 by three East European countries, held its 35th Olympiad in 2003. Approximately 240 senior high school students participated from about 60 countries and regions of the world. Though it was the first participation, all of the four Japanese senior high school students won an award (two bronze medals and two fighting spirit prizes) in this contest. Moreover, at the 36th Olympiad held in Kiel, Germany, in 2004 all of the four students from Japan won a medal and one of them a gold medal.

At the Olympiad, there are high-level questions that are not taught at Japan's senior high schools. Therefore, with full cooperation of professors and teachers of the Council of Chemical Education, Chemical Society of Japan, we made full preparations — such as translation of previous questions for a training camp on written tests and skill tests — before dispatching the representatives.By the way, the Olympiad is scheduled for Taiwan in 2005 and Korea in 2006. Those participants with superior records are awarded a gold medal (about 10% of the total participants), silver medal (about 20%) or bronze medal (about 30%).

Participation in International Chemistry Olympiad

Participation in International

Chemistry Olympiad

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■“50 Questions on Interesting Chemistry” As a supplementary reader, this brochure is very popular among junior high schools nationwide. With “burn,” “rust,”“melt,”extend,”“float,”and“change”as keywords, we compiled 50 questions on various phenomena of our daily life and their answers and explanations. Children can acquire knowledge of science (chemistry) by reading them with pleasure. They are also enjoyable for adults.

Chemical Industry of Japan 2004 (by Graphs)

“50 Questions on Interesting Chemistry”

http : //www.kagaku21.net/(in Japanese only)

Education Support and Enlightening ActivityTo promote understanding of the chemical industry and chemical products as well as chemistry, the Japan Chemical Industry Association has been conducting various educational support and enlightenment activities.

With regard to the actual situation of the Japanese chemical industry, such major statistics as shipments, research and development expenditures, capital invest-ment expenditures, exports and imports, trends of energy savings, number of total employees, and trend of profits are compiled into a concise brochure with easy-to-understand graphs and tables. You can find an English version as well as Japanese version on the association's website.

Chemical Industry of Japan (by Graphs)

Internet Publications

Chemical Industry of Japan (by Graphs)

Internet Publications

What is the Japan Chemical Industry Association?The Japan Chemical Industry Association (JCIA) is composed of approximately 190 companies that are engaged in manufacturing, handling and other businesses related to chemical products and their about 80 affiliated organizations and is the representative chemical industry association of Japan. It participates in the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) by representing Japan. JCIA primarily addresses issues common to the industry and global issues that cannot be handled by individual companies. Together with domestic and international activity on the issues of environment and chemical safety, as well as research, study and training activity on the issues that are common to the industry, it also focuses on public relations activity aiming at improving how the reliability of the industry is viewed by the society.

■“Interesting History of Chemistry”This is a history of chemistry through descriptions of past episodes and people. It is distributed to senior high schools nationwide as a supplementary reader for students, but it is also popular among adults. The history is divided into four eras ―“Beginning of modern chemistry,”“Develop-ment of coal chemistry,”“Development of petrochemicals,” and“Era of new chemicals”― with focus on people who were active in each era.Chemistry started with a question“Why do things burn ?” From Antoine Laurent Lavoisine (France,1743-1794), who explained it, to J.G. Bednorz (Germany,1950-) and Muller (Switzerland,1927-) on high- temperature super-conductivity, scientists are introduced.

■“Chemistry Creates the Future of the Earth”With senior high school students and the general public as the audience, we have explained in an easy-to-understand way how chemical products are used in our daily life. It covers a wide range of uses from raw materials in plastics, synthetic rubbers, synthetic fibers, glass and ceramics, electronic materials, washing com-pounds, dyes, and products for food and beverages to such products as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, adhesives, detergents, and agrichemicals and fertilizers. It also de-scribes the most up-to-date developments for each product.In addition, it is easy to understand that“it is the role of chemical technology that protects and improves the global environment”because chemical technology has developed substances to replace Freon gas that have less impact on the earth's ozone layer.

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“Interesting History of Chemistry”

“Chemistry Creates the Future of the Earth”

Internet Publications

Internet Publications

Printed in Japan 0409200TP

This is an integrated website of“Enjoyable, Useful Chemistry”

that anyone from elementary school students to adults can

enjoy. It consists of the following eight corners:

http://www.kagaku21.net/index2.shtml(partly in English http://www.kagaku21.net/en/)

Website

Viewers can enjoy many experiments on the screen such as “Let's produce an aromatic drug,”and“World of super low temperature.”There is a full explanation of the experiments. Since the complexity of contents rapidly rises, please enjoy it with Dr. Dream Chemistry, Chemi (boy), and Cal (girl).

This is a quiz corner where the “God of Chemistry”lives. If you can answer correctly all the questions in either“Challenge Quiz”or“3D Graphic Quiz,” you can meet with the“God of Chemistry.”What kind of “God”? Please look forward to it.

Living and chemistry have a close relationship. Here, we explain the relation- ships between“Cooking,”“Cleaning,” and“Cosmetics and supplements”and chemistry. For example, they include“The secret of tasty seaweed”and“Power and function of vinegar.”If you understand chemical actions that happen when cooking, you will learn how to cook tasty meals. Wonderful recipes are also described.

You can find a list of nationwide science museums. Let's visit a nearby science museum and acquire wideranging know-ledge while enjoying ourselves.

We have picked wonderful topics in our daily life such as food, living, raw materials and energy, health, and recy-cling. “Why does a banana have no seeds ?”“Why can we warm food with a microwave oven?”“How does a color TV show colors?” “Is it true that adhesives are used in surgery ?”“Why can't a human being live without air ?”“Why should we not use 'tempura' oil for automobiles even though it is oil ?”. . . . How many questions can you answer ?

This corner explains advanced infor-mation about chemistry in an easy-to-understand way, such as the contribu-tions of chemistry that are indispensable to the development of biotechnology and IT, which are expected to play an important role in the 21st century.

This is a corner of links to chemistry-related websites you can get familiar with to learn more about chemistry. There are eight corners from “Learning chemistry,”“Chemistry news”to “Chemi-stry database,”and“Nanotechnology.”

This corner is a place where you can exchange various kinds of information that relate to chemistry. Such corners as“Chemistry ― I see information box”are established.

Sumitomo Rokko Bldg. 7F1-4-1 Shinkawa, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0033 JapanTel: +81-3-3297-2555 (PR Dept.) Fax: +81-3-3297-2615URL: http://www.nikkakyo.org

Japan Chemical Industry Association

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