Happy International Year of Chemistry! 1-1-11 marks the start of a year-long focus on the “achievements of chemistry and its contributions to the well-being of humankind”, with the theme “Chemistry—our life, our future”.

The American Chemical Society has launched an online tool to help us learn more about these achievements and contributions. “365: Chemistry for Life” is an easy way to get daily dose of chemistry. Each day of the year is associated with a photo or figure and description of a particular event, person, process, etc. related to chemistry. They can also be sorted according to the four quarterly themes selected by ACS for the year: energy, environment, health, and materials.

The 365 photo for today has the caption “Chemical Abstracts First Publishes in 1907″, with a description of the Chemical Abstracts Service and what they do. Tomorrow’s entry is a close-up photo of walnuts and a discussion of their potential benefit against prostate cancer.

This tool could be a great way to start a class. For example, based on the photograph, what do students think it might have to do with chemistry? Then, the caption and brief description can fill in details.