Happy Easter/Passover/Spring! Chemistry has traditionally been the domain of the high school sciences. But with the acceleration of curriculum in today's public schools, elementary students are being asked to interpret the periodic table and rudimentary experiments are becoming more common with even the youngest students. This week's collection of recommended resources covers the best chemistry links from elementary through secondary instruction, and beyond.

I will take off next weekend for a belated Spring Break, but will return April 28th with an update of the popular annual Math Resources edition. Until then, keep those recommended topics and resources coming. Enjoy!

• Chem4Kids - http://www.chem4kids.com/
  Chem4Kids is designed for elementary students, covering topics such as Matter, Atoms, Elements, Reactions, Key Topics and Mathematics. The cartoonish graphics, succinct explanations and sound file pronunciations make it attractive to its target audience, and its tie-ins to the bigger concepts (e.g. the periodic table) make it a natural for teachers looking for new ways to expand on their instruction.
• Chemistry Functions - http://www.stanford.edu/~glassman/chem/index.htm
  Here's a collection of engines designed to help make chemistry calculations easier. The molar conversion engine, for example, allows you to convert from moles to particles, grams to moles, and molar mass. The periodic table allows you to place the cursor over any element and immediately view the name, symbol atomic number and atomic mass for the element. And the equation balancer requires you to simply type in an equation and click the "Balance" button to get results.
• Chemistry Teaching Resources - http://www.anachem.umu.se/eks/pointers.htm
  This impressive set of teaching resources comes from Sweden's Umeå University. Aimed at secondary students, the site includes curriculum material, demonstrations and experiments, mailing and resources lists, recommended software and suppliers. And each list is quite exhaustive! Click on Courses and Tutorials and load a page chocked full of links that include text materials, streaming video and downloads. Easy to identify icons next to each title let you know what's available at each recommended site.
• ChemistryWeb - http://www.ssc.ntu.edu.sg:8000/chemweb/htmlj/
  Nanyang Technological University in Singapore presents this second highly useful compendium of chemistry resources on the World Wide Web for researchers, educators and students. Useful sections of this site include global directories, search engines, software, reference materials, chemistry departments and teaching resources. Resources are listed for Analytical Chemistry, General Chemistry, Inorganic and Organic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry and Interactive Applications.
• CheMystery - http://library.thinkquest.org/3659/
  This ThinkQuest entry strives to be"a virtual chemistry textbook, to provide an interactive guide for high school chemistry students". It assumes little, beginning with tutorials on symbols, formulae, measurements and dimensional analysis. But once you kick into gear, the site has lots of higher level applications to offer on atomic structure and bonding, thermal dynamics, electrochemistry and nuclear reactions.
• Comic Book Periodic Table - http://www.uky.edu/Projects/Chemcomics/
  Looking for a hook that will really get kids interested in the Periodic Table of the Elements? The University of Kentucky offers this eye-catching contender, the Comic Book Periodic Table. Click on any element on the virtual table and immediately open your browser to a listing of classic comic book issues that feature that element/hero! Click on the symbol in the upper left-hand corner and go to the Web Elements table offering all kinds of basic information, audio and text descriptions, and a summary of the element in isolation.
• Delights of Chemistry - http://www.chem.leeds.ac.uk/delights/
  Presented by the School of Chemistry at the University of Leeds, Delights of Chemistry is a collection of three dozen experiments and demonstrations, two photo libraries (more than five hundred images combines) and streaming chemistry video, all designed to augment the good work you already do in the secondary classroom! The animations of chemical phenomenon are actual video clips from the Leeds' labs. This site is definitely worth your time.
• Fireworks: The Science Behind the Spectacle - http://library.thinkquest.org/15384/
  Summer is coming and with it the promise of swimming, picnics and fireworks! This ThinkQuest entry offers a look at the physics and chemistry behind this age-old crowd pleaser. There are sections on the history of pyrotechnics and their construction. Unfortunately, the interactive section is currently down, and is an important piece in this website's effectiveness. Be looking for it to be up and active again!
• HyperChemistry - http://library.thinkquest.org/2690/
  Here is a secondary-level resource that is "designed to be a comprehensive chemistry web resource for students and educators." There's a glossary of more than fifteen-hundred words and a periodic table that covers atomic number, placement on the table, density, boiling point, melting point, covalent radius, atomic radius, electronegativity, ionization energy, discoverer, properties, and a description of industrial uses. Some three dozen experiments are also offered that illustrate basic chemistry concepts and principals.
• ph Factor - http://www.miamisci.org/ph/
  The Miami Museum of Science presents this in-depth look at ph and its implications for chemistry. The Explore button takes you to a ph scale on which students can click to see the acidity of different common items. The Explain, Expand and Extend links offer elementary-level activities with links to lesson plans to help teachers integrate the site into their class instruction. The Examine link offers explanations of Performance Based, Authentic, Portfolio and Journal assessments, and the Teacher's Guide offers direction on how to make use of the site in the classroom.
• Polymers: They're Everywhere! - http://www.nationalgeographic.com/resources/ngo/education/plastics/index.html
  Even though this is a highly specialized topic, I wanted to include it because it is so well done by National Geographic. The site takes students through a tour of polymers and how they exist in our environment and within ourselves, both natural and man-made. Designed for upper elementary and middle school students, each section has an interactive component designed to keep kids involved in learning more. This is a great discussion-starter for your chemistry studies!
• Superconductors - http://superconductors.org/
  Joe Eck maintains only the highest quality materials on this site covering background, classes, links and resources about superconductors. Excellent for high school and secondary students, topics covered include the history, uses and types of superconductors. Advanced students can make use of Advanced Superconductors and the Future and Terminology and the Naming Scheme. Can I play, Too? is a list of sources for kits and materials to experiment with superconductors, and the list of links will keep your class busy for hours digging deeper into the topic!
• Temperature Conversion Calculator - http://www.cchem.berkeley.edu/ChemResources/temperature.html
  Ready to move on to more advanced chemistry topics but you still have students stuck on temperature conversions? The University of California at Berkeley presents this online tool that converts temperatures back and forth between Kelvin, Celsius, Fahrenheit and Reamuer. Just type in the temperature, select the desired scale from the drop-down menu, and you'll have the conversion done in an instant. This isn't so much an instructional tool, but imagine the convenience of having this link in your class bookmarks so students have the Temperature Conversion Calculator handy!
  

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I will take next weekend off as a belated Spring Break.
The following week's topic will be "Top Math Sites 2001"

Please send in URL's of high quality sites which may be of interest to our readers to walter@surfaquarium.com! Also, I'm always looking for new topic ideas and input!

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