The History of Tested Demonstrations and
Future of DigiDemos in JCE
Ed Vitz
Kutztown University
http://introchem.chem.okstate.edu/conference/paper.php?id=35
“Ancient History” of Chemical Demonstrations
Paracelsus (1493-1541)
Karl Heumann in Germany (1876) earliest separate
demonstration book
Heumann’s text includes blank pages after each demonstration
so that lecturers can enter notes describing improvements or
alterations. This feature proved valuable, and DigiDemos has
adopted and improved on it: Users’ notes will be online and
accessible to all, not just readers of a particular book.
For example, see Dave Tanis’ addendum to A-5 Electrolysis of Water at:
http://forums.divched.org:8000/webx?14@51.tqt2aIq2bLU.2@.1ad4b3bd/2
1. Jensen, William B. “To Demonstrate te Truths of ‘Chymistry’”, Bull. Hist.
Chem. 10, (1991), pp. 3-15.
2. Kauffman, G.B., The Chemical Educator, Vol 1 (5) 1430-4171.
Michael Faraday (1791-1867)
Michael Faraday: City Philosophical Society Presentations
1810 and his Course of Six Elementary Lectures on Chemistry
Adapted to a Juvenile Audience presented at The Royal
Institution of Great Britain during the Christmas Season of
1827.
We’ll add video and still photos to DigiDemos to emulate the
flair of Michael Faraday’s Presentations.
Smith, P.E. “On the Place of ‘Noise and Splendor’ in Faraday’s Chemical
Demonstrations”, ChemEd 95, Old Dominion Univ., Norfolk, VA
New Demos: Nanotubes
As the first photographer interested in
nanotechnology discovered…
A photographic strobe will ignite carbon
nanotubes! Single walled carbon nanotubes
have high black body emissivity (absorbance),
and energy can only be dispersed over a short
distance in two dimensions.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/296/5568/705/DC1
Campbell, D.J., McCann, J.T., and Xia, Y. “Classroom Scale Demonstrations Using
Flash Ignition of Carbon Nanotubes” J. Chem. Educ. In Press (at BCCE!)
The Journal of Chemical Education has been
published since 1924.
The first issues of JCE were
each ~20 pages. This is the
introductory issue in
January 1924 with editorial
comment by N.E.G., who
was…?
Neil Gordon
Benfey, T. J. Chem. Educ. 2003, 80, 651-7
Bohning, James J. J. Chem. Educ. 2003, 80, 642–650;
First JCE Demo
The earliest published
demonstration in the Journal of
Chemical Education (JCE)
appeared in volume 1 (1924),
“A New Lecture Table Outfit
for Demonstration
Conductivity to Elementary
Classes” [*Cavison, H.F. JCE 1 (4),
74 (1924)]
We have learned that
retroactive addition of safety
information in DigiDemos can
be a valuable asset.
For example, see Jim Maynard’s Safety note linked to the Thermite Reaction at
http://forums.jce.divched.org:8000/webx?14@101.tqtkaMFjb4Q.15@.1ada928f
The Art of the
Lecture
Demonstration
JCE, June, 1925
Notes on Pedagogy can
be added to
demonstrations where
this is lacking.
The Usefulness of the Lecture Demonstration
Even the Journal of the American Chemical Society occasionally
published a lecture demonstration, but that was not the mission
of the Journal…
Browne, A.W. and R. S. von Hazmburg, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 48, 2383-5 (Sept., 1926).
(SCSN3)2
explodes with
mechanical
shock, heat or
stream of NH3 (g)
DigiDemos
categories for
demos that should
not be repeated,
or which require
special expertise
Many Demonstrations appeared in in the first
25 years
They were scattered and
in different formats, with
occasional short series..
DigiDemos collects them
in one organized, easily
searchable location
Pedagogy of the Lecture Demonstration
Symposium on
Lecture
Demonstration
Method vs.
Individual
Laboratory Work,
89th ACS Meeting,
NY, 1935
JCE, February 1936
Technique of the
Lecture Demonstration
(1948)
JCE reported extensively on
Symposia on Novel Lecture
Demonstrations at the
National ACS meetings in
1947 (1) and 1948 (2), with
contributions of a score or
more authors.
1. Alyea, H.N. et al, JCE 25, 249-261 (1947)
2. Daugherty, T.H. et al, JCE 26, 482499(1948).
Bibliographies of Lecture Demonstrations
(1950)
Derrick, J. O. One hundred
high-school chemistry projects,
J. Chem. Educ. 1940, 17, 492.
Derrick, J. O. A Bibliography of
Chemistry Projects and
Demonstrations, J. Chem. Educ.
1950, 17, 562-564. [158
references to books, magazine and
journal articles.]
February 1955: Tested Demonstrations
Collections of
demonstrations
established a genre,
but lacked uniformity
and completeness
that DigiDemos can
provide
First Tested Demonstrations (1955)
“DETACH SHEET BY CUTTING ALONG THIS LINE—PUNCH HOLES
AND REINFORCE WITH GUMMED LINEN REINFORCEMENTS”
The first “Sheets”, Numbers 1-24, were in “A” series pages, compiled
by Hubert Alyea; subsequent Sheets by Frederic Dutton.
Tested Demonstrations continued in the new, expanded
format in 1961.
Tested Demonstrations Collections
Hubet Alyea and Fred Dutton, Tested demonstrations in
chemistry, Journal of Chemical Education, 6th ed. Easton, Pa.
18042 (1965).
Gilbert, G.L. Alyea, H.N., Dutton, F.B. and Dreisbach,
D. (Eds.), "Tested Demonstrations in Chemistry" (2 volumes),
Journal of Chemical Education and Division of Chemical
Education, Inc., American Chemical Society, Easton, 1994.
What’s Next?
What are Digi-Demos? JCE Portal
What are Digi-Demos?
http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/JCEDLib/DigiDemos/index.html
What are Digi-Demos?
http://forums.jce.divched.org:8000/JCE/DigiDemos/
What are Digi-Demos?
http://forums.jce.divched.org:8000/JCE/DigiDemos/Demos/?14@63.jtdvajs9bk7.0@
What are Digi-Demos?
What are Digi-Demos?
Table of Contents: Post a Message
Table of
Contents:
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Back to Menu: Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Table of Contents: 25 “Standard” Chapters
Table of Contents: 4. Chemical Equations
Table of Contents: A-15 Fundamental Laws
Didn’t Want Fundamental Stochiometry? Search
From Anywhere in DigiDemos
Search Results: Limiting Reagent
Strengths of DigiDemos
1. Tested: JCE TDs are the Foundation of DigiDemos. We are
responsible for Tested demonstrations!
2. Timeless: the JCEDL is a publisher as well as a purveyor of
information: a new concept of a library. We are not just a
digital library of links. The prestige lent by peer review is a
strong incentive to authorship.
DigiDemos become part of the body of scholarly literature
that is accessed in the same manner as Kekule’s papers in
Justus Leibig's Annalen der Chemie (1875-1978) or
Berichte de Deutschen Chemische Gesellschaft (1868-1905)!
Strengths of JCE DigiDemos
3. Tied to other JCE Resources: CLIPs, CCA videos,
related demonstrations, color figures, sound, etc.
4. Teacher Participation: Pedagogy, technique, safety
continually updated.
5. Documentation: Metadata standards include
bibliographic data to make DigiDemos traceable.
[http://metadata.net/]
6. Searchable
DigiDemos to Come: “Simultaneous Display of
Spectral Images and Graphs Using a Web Camera and
Fiber Optic Spectrometer”*
These Supplemental Materials are designed to help students correlate
the appearance of a source to its spectroscopic and spectrographic
representations:
*Niece, B.K. J. Chem. Educ. In Press
Simultaneous Display of Spectra
In addition to color, DigiDemos allow
interactivity:
Online
PDF
Niece, Brian K. J. Chem. Educ. 2006 83 761.
New Demos (with Permission): Narra
According to Harvey, the
first recorded observation of
fluorescence dates to the year
1574. The writings of the
Spanish physician and
botanist Nicolas Monardes
describe a wood from New
Spain called Lignum
nephriticum, which was used
as a medical treatment for
liver and kidney aliments.
Fluorescence was noticed in
water contained in narra
wood cups.
Muyskens, M. A. “The Fluorescence of Lignum nephriticum: A Flash Back to the Past, and a Simple
Demonstration of Natural Substance Fluorescence” J. Chem. Educ. In Press
Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge National Science Foundation
support under NSDL grant # 0226244, “The Journal of
Chemical Education Digital Library.”
End