This is a shorter version of a previously published Learning Object. This version focuses on bond enthalpy calculations and has students think about the risks and safety precautions for the synthesis of an explosive material (nitrogen triiodide).
There is also a longer version of this activity posted as a literature dicussion.
Class activity:
An introduction to research, both laboratory and scientific literature.
Before Class: Read the essay by Martin Schwartz entitled “The importance of stupidity in scientific research”, Journal of Cell Science, 2008, 1771. http://jcs.biologists.org/content/121/11/1771.full.pdf
Introductory Class Discussion:
Students in a 2nd year inorganic class read an article describing the effect of additives on the final morphology of copper oxide. (Siegfried, M.J., and Choi, K-S, “Elucidating the Effect of Additives on the Growth and Stability of Cu2O Surfaces via Shape Transformation of Pre-Grown Crystals”J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2006, 128 (32), pp 10356–10357. dx.doi.org/10.1021/ja063574y).
This is a presentation to introduce students to Toulmin’s Argumentation Scheme in the context of providing explanations in Inorganic Chemistry. It was inspired by discussions with Rick Moog at Franklin & Marshall College regarding how to encourage students to fully explain the “why” behind chemical behavior, rather than simply cite trends or equations. These slides were used to prompt a discussion about what a complete, logical explanation should include. They also served as a means of defining what is expected on quizzes and exams in response to various prompts.
This assignment introduces students to the various sub-disciplines of Inorganic chemistry and requires them to examine the current literature throughout the semester. The assignment is introduced the first day of class as part of a discussion on the breadth of inorganic chemistry. I review the journals published by the American Chemical Society and discuss which contain papers related to inorganic chemistry.
Towards the end of the semester, when we were starting to read more of the primary literature, I realized that the Miller Indices were present in most of the papers that I wanted to discuss. However, I couldn't find any good resources in textbooks that would help to explain what these were. I found this online resource through the University of Cambridge that is engaging, interactive and concise.
Examples taken from the literature for the six palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions used in organic chemistry.
The Materials Project is part of the Materials Genome Initiative that uses high-througput computing to uncover the properties of inorganic materials.
It's possible to search for materials and their properties
It employs high-throughput computation approaches and IT to create a system that can be used to predict properties and construct phase diagrams andPourbaix diagrams.
This is just a cool little website I just happened to stumble upon today while looking for something else at the RSC site. It comes from China, and it is pretty!
Collection of Safety LOs from VIPEr