It is estimated that 5 percent of global emissions of carbon dioxide comes from the manufacture of cement. Some clever manufacturers are finding ways to not only reduce the carbon footprint of the industry but possibly reverse it! That is to say, it seems possible to capture CO2 and store it in concrete, i.e. sequester […]

I recently read The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. One of the issues Pollan calls readers’ attention to is the meaning of “organic.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture appears to have a clear sense of what it means to be organic. See their web page on which 12 links to organic farming-related documents appear. Most […]

In middle school, students are progressing in their knowledge of what matter is, what it is made of, how it behaves and changes, and how it can be manipulated. These phenomena are the nature of chemistry. So why not use the term “chemistry” with students and celebrate National Chemistry Week? This year the American Chemical […]

What’s better than a day at the beach? A day at the beach and not being miserable for the next several days because of sunburn! That’s where the modern miracle of sunscreen comes into play. Did you know many sunscreens are products of nanotechnology? An advisory statement from the Australian Government’s Therapeutic Goods Administration, Safety […]

ScienceDaily has brought us yet another interesting article related to the NSES Life Science Content Standard. My guess is that middle school teachers’ and students’ olfaction capabilities might be a bit superior to the general public’s, given my personal experience in teaching middle school! Nonetheless, scientists from Northwestern University’s School of Medicine report that imperceptible […]

Will we ever find a suitable, sustainable, and reliable substitute for fossil fuels? Sure, there’s wind, water, or solar power, but these sources are dependent on the conditions of nature and are not always reliable. ScienceDaily reported, on November 3, 2007, that two microbiologists, Rhonda Zeltwanger and Michael Cotta at Washington University in St. […]

We’re ever thankful when our students come to school with freshly brushed teeth, but could there be a circumstance under which you would suggest your students not use toothpaste? In May of this year, BBC News reported that the Chinese government was investigating charges that toothpaste containing diethylene glycol, also known as antifreeze, had been […]