Contents #110 1. Contents 2. Editorial #110 3. In this issue 4. Education News and Views 7. Good Practical Science John Holman 8. Irish Success at the International Chemistry Olympiad Odilla Finlayson 10. ARTIST - Action Research To Innovate Science Teaching Sarah Hayes, Peter Childs and Aimee Stapleton 12. Chemists you should know: #2 Niels Bohr – into atomic orbits Adrian J. Ryder 15. Classical Chemical Quotations #8 Niels Bohr 16. The world’s largest crystal model Robert Krickl 19. Teaching science in the USA Emma Ryan 23. Science Integration as a Precursor to Effective STEM education Miriam Hamilton 28. How does it work? The chemistry of the brown ring test for nitrate ions 30. TEMI idea: The amazing polydensity bottle 31. TEMI idea: The mystery of the disappearing precipitate 34. Zippie Chemistry Enda Carr 38. Places to visit Glengowla Mines, Co. Galway 40. Diary 41. Lithium the light metal powering the future – from brines to batteries ` Conference Reports 46. 10 th IViCE, Irish Variety in Chemistry Education Claire McDonnell 48. Science on Stage Europe Enda Carr 49. 11 th Chemistry Demonstration Workshop 51. 6th Annual BASF Summer School for Chemistry Teachers Declan Kennedy 53. 7th Eurovariety in University Chemistry Teaching Peter E. Childs 56. ESERA 2017 Peter E. Childs 58. Science at the National Ploughing Championships 2017 Aimee Stapleton, Martin McHugh, Sarah Hayes 60. Chemlingo: what’s in a name – nitre or natron? Peter E. Childs 61. The danger of cherry stones 62. The two faces of rubber 64. Information page Disclaimer The views expressed in Chemistry in Action! are those of the authors and the Editor is not responsible for any views expressed. Chemistry in Action! does not represent the official views of any institution, organisation or body. Any unsigned articles or items are the responsibility of the Editor and if reprinted the Editor should be credited. If any errors of fact are published, or anyone's views are misrepresented, then the Editor will be glad to publish either a correction or a reply. The Editor is not responsible for any actions taken as a result of material published in Chemistry in Action!. Any experiments or demonstrations are done at your own risk and you should take all necessary safety precautions, including wearing eye protection. Teachers may copy materials from Chemistry in Action! freely, without prior permission, for use in their schools. Articles and other material in Chemistry in Action!, except those originating in other publications, may be used freely in other educational publications without prior permission. Please acknowledge the source and author and send a copy of the publication to the Editor. Prior permission is needed if material is being used in commercial publications. For subscription details etc. see inside back cover. Cover design: George Fitzgerald (Mobius Ireland) Cover photo : Robert Krickl Editor: Peter E. Childs [email protected] Assistant editors: Marie Walsh, Maria Sheehan, Sarah Hayes, Anne O’Dwyer 1 Chemistry in Action! #109 Spring 2017 Editorial #110 First year down chance to visit Ireland. Even the rain held off for The first year of the new Junior Science course is most of the week. For a report see p. 56. over and in two years the first students will take the examination. One thing I noticed when I ChemEd-Ireland returns to UL visited several schools starting the new courses On Saturday October 21 st ChemEd-Ireland returns was that the Nature of Science (NoS) was being to the University of Limerick. The theme of this taught as a stand-alone topic. This is not the year’s conference is ‘Chemistry and Society’ and intention of the syllabus as NoS is supposed to be the organising team is led by Dr Sarah Hayes of integrated across all the themes as appropriate. In SSPC. Registration will be available through many of the new textbooks NoS is dealt with at Eventbrite. ChemEd-Ireland started on the UL the start as a separate topic and this may be the campus in 1982 and ran for 25 years there before cause of the way it is being taught. It is also true moving around the country, alternating now that only TUI members had received any in- between the East and West coast. This year’s bill service courses for the new course before it was of fare includes climate change and the chemistry introduced, due to the ASTI boycott of the new of food. We hope to publish the Proceedings in Junior curriculum. This is certainly an issue to be the Spring issue (#111). The conference went off addressed by the Junior Science support team as well despite Storm Brian and over 70 people teaching NoS as a topic may undermine its use in attended. the course. It remains to be seen whether the new shorter course (200 versus 240 hours) is a good Philip Ryan, RIP preparation for the senior cycle science courses. I was very sad to hear of the recent death of James Philip Ryan, the long-serving secretary of the Major science education conference Institute of Chemistry of Ireland. For many people in Dublin in the last 30 years he was the Institute and his From August 21-25 Dublin City University hosted hard work and cheerful manner will be greatly the European Science Education Research missed. He has done no small service to the cause Assocation’s conference. ESERA is held every of chemistry in Ireland. two years in a European city and this year’s event was the largest ever with over 1500 participants. It New STEM Professor arrives was jointly organised by CASTel at DCU and Following the departure of Professor Sibel EPI*STEM at the University of Limerick, Erduran to Oxford in Dec. 2017, UL has now although the lion’s share of the work and appointed a new Professor of STEM Education. organisation was done by the local team. The Professor Merriyln Goos, a maths education conference went off smoothly, despite having specialist from Australia, took up her position in over 20 parallel sessions at times. The overseas October 2017. She is also Director of EPI*STEM, visitors seemed delighted by their welcome and a the National Centre for STEM Education in UL. Peter E. Childs Hon. Editor Chemistry in Action! #110 Autumn 2017 2 In this issue: I hope you enjoy this issue as it has a good range of Robert’s model needed 42,875 model atoms and articles and reports. This page highlights some of 11.8 km of sticks to join them. the items, as started in the last issue, to encourage The summer is always a busy time for conferences you to browse. and workshops and in this issue we have a number We have several practical articles: by Enda Carr on of reports (pp. 46-59), ranging geographically from using Ziploc bags to do safe chemistry (p. 34); and Belgrade, Serbia to Debrecen, Hungary; from two TEMI ideas, one on density using the Limerick to Cork to Dublin. One reason for putting polydensity bottle(p.30) and one on the in the reports is to whet your appetite for next year disappearing precipitate (p. 32); also an article on – maybe you would think of going to Cork for the the chemistry of the brown ring test for nitrates (p. BASF Chemistry Workshop or to Limerick next 28). (If you have anything like this that you want summer for the Chemistry Demonstration explaining, please contact peter,[email protected].) Workshop. Miriam Hamilton contributes an interesting Opinion Practical work is important in science, something article on the integration of the three main sciences established in schools in England and Ireland since in the junior science course (p. 23). Do you have the 19 th century. In many countries practical work strong opinions on something connected to teaching does not have such a central place and science is chemistry or science in school? Why not send in an often taught from the book. The Gatsby Foundation article for the Opinion feature? in the UK has funded a recent report on Practical Work in schools, written by Professor Sir John Emma Ryan, an ex-student of UL, describes her Holman, which lays down benchmarks for school experience of teaching science in New York, after practical work. There is much that we could learn several years teaching in Ireland (p. 19). from this report and summary is given on p. 7. Adrian Ryder continues his series on ‘Chemists you After reading this summary, I would encourage you should know’, with an article on Niels Bohr, to download and read the full report. actually a physicist, but featured in every introductory chemistry course. (p. 12) This is With the move towards electric vehicles and the followed by a famous Chemical Quotation by Niels need to store the energy from renewable resources Bohr. like wind and solar, lithium batteries have moved up the technology agenda and demand for lithium I think it’s important to have a historical has soared. All of us now use and depend on perspective in science and also to link the present lithium batteries in our smart phones and laptops. In day to the past in Ireland. The latest in our series this issue we look at the chemistry of lithium and ‘Places to visit’, introduces the Glengowla Mine in where it is found (p. 41). Co. Galway, an example of Ireland’s mining past. (p. 38) Did you know that eating the kernel inside cherry stones could be fatal? To find out why consult p. You will have noticed the striking cover with the 61. Did you know there were two sorts of rubber, world’s largest crystal model (of sodium chloride), one hard and one elastic.