from Erica K. Jacobsen, JCE High School Editor

Hungry for Food Chemistry

I’m hungry. Can’t say that I remember the last time reading a magazine brought on an attack of the munchies, but the March issue of the Journal of Chemical Education got my mouth watering. A major reason for this was Miles and Bachman’s article (p 311) “Science of Food and Cooking: A Non-Science Majors Course”. The article is loaded with examples of how they incorporate different foods and cooking techniques into the course. The connection to such practical, everyday items helps the instructors provide a class that they hope will be “so vivid as to mark their [students’] minds indelibly”. The day I read the article, my children and I attended a homeschool field trip to a local butcher shop. The experience was fairly vivid! We heard several things that interested me enough to want to investigate further, such as “all the flavor comes from the fat” and that dry aging is the beginning of the rotting process. Miles and Bachman also describe a lecture I’d love to attend: how different versions of Toll House chocolate chip cookies are produced. Adjusting parts of the recipe, such as the amount of baking soda, the ratio of white to brown sugar, and the type of flour used, can have a huge impact on the resulting cookies. The photo shows samples we couldn’t resist making at home. The article also has an extensive online supplement. This month’s JCE Concept Connections highlights additional resources for teaching the science of food and cooking.

A Taste of Salt Lake City

The upcoming American Chemical Society (ACS) meeting in Salt Lake City will be tasty too. I’m looking forward to Sally Mitchell’s award address for the James Bryant Conant Award in High School Chemistry Teaching. She promises an introduction to topics dealing with solution chemistry through cooking, including determining the authenticity of vanilla samples through paper chromatography, and the making of food products such as peanut brittle, fudge, taffy, and more. Sally’s address kicks off the first of two High School Teachers Program evenings, on Monday and Tuesday, March 23 and 24. See descriptions of other programs of interest to high school teachers, including two afternoons to celebrate the first 100 JCE Classroom Activities. Chocolate Fest, a Presidential Outreach Event cosponsored by the ACS Committee on Community Activities, sounds like a don’t-miss event. The Saturday, March 21, event will focus on the chemistry of chocolate and will include hands-on activities for children.

One reason I enjoy traveling to various meetings is the chance to try new restaurants and to sample regional cuisine. It will be a long time before I forget the crème brûlée French toast from Michael’s Uptown Cafe in Bloomington, IN (BCCE 2008) or perfectly-cooked Boston scrod (NSTA 2008). What will Salt Lake City have on its plate? The CHED reception and social event on Sunday evening offers the intriguingly-named Wasatch Mountain hors d’oeuvres and a chance to network with fellow educators. Hope to see you there. I’ll be the one with my mouth full.

Laura’s Take on the Issue

from Laura Slocum, JCE High School Associate Editor

Second semester is well under way. Each year at this time I wonder if my AP Chemistry students will really be ready for the exam in May. If you teach an AP course, perhaps you do the same. This is now the eleventh time that I have taught AP Chemistry, but I still have an annual fret and panic session. After I read McNaught and Peckham’s article, “Effects of Hydrolysis on Determining the Solubility Product of Potassium Bitartrate”, my first thought was that my students were going to be in even more trouble. I use a lab similar to the labs they reference in their article that should allow my students to determine the K_sp of potassium bitartrate; however many of the students have rather large errors. Then I suddenly had an “ah ha” moment—I can finally explain some of the errors that my students have encountered. I was once again the learner, and I really appreciate what I learned from McNaught and Peckham. This is why I value the sharing that takes place within this Journal and my relationships with other teachers.

As you start to make your summer plans, add some time for sharing and include the ChemEd 2009 conference in your schedule. It will be held at Radford University, August 2–6. I really enjoy the ChemEd conferences and always look forward to seeing old friends, meeting new teachers, and sharing ideas that help me become a better and stronger chemistry teacher. If you would like to submit an abstract for a presentation, the abstract submission deadline is March 1.

JCE High School Chemed Learning Information Center (CLIC)