DivCHED CCCE: Committee on Computers in Chemical Education

Dear Chand, Rachel, Ingrid and Agneta,

First of all: CONGRATULATIONS.

May I rise politely some comments and questions?

To Chand:

Workshops on innovative projects of learning science – a summer holiday project, for UG students; instruments & reference to specific chemistry experiments. The plan to introduce some of these in the student’s regular curriculum & CBSE syllabus is an ambitious issue. Suppose you have already succeeded and wish to continue. Do you have any wider feedback, i. e. from various levels of schools & through this year?

Last but not least; congratulation to the entire Symposium on Innovative projects for Learning Science.

To Rachel:

Activities for nonscience oriented students and their parents, in pedagogical centres – am I right if see from the report the enthusiasm & motivation of public, & a continuity towards the future?

To Ingrid:

To capture the imagination & motivate the public about chemistry and its contributions to address the challenges of the world – publishing 40 articles and also the announcements of community events  are of a great value, congratulations.  Do Festivals de Quimica continue also this & next years, if so, with which themes this year? 

To Agneta:

Monthly themes, around the Sweden – special congratulation to a valued final dialog session with the specific items for the future (especially “listen to the young” & “just do”; the similar IYC experience and future focus also in our country). By the way, is the receipt how to prepare “the Uppsala pastry – Celsius tart” secret one, or can you share it with us?

My best wishes, Milan (from Slovakia, Europe). 

The following links regarding the national IYC initiatives in Spain have been provided courtesy of Javier Garcia Martinez.

http://documenta.wi.csic.es/alfresco/downloadpublic/direct/workspace/SpacesStore/ca7c3e41-b52f-444e-8ba8-2a479c0475e6/El%2520CSIC%2520en%2520el%2520AIQ_resumen.pdf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gygzxA55leA

http://www.quimica2011.es/

If you have any links concerning other countries please reply to this email  and that way we can keep them all posted together.  In fact why don't you use the same subject line, but change the name of the country from Spain to yours.

Cheers,

Bob

Dear Ingrid,

The amount of stuff you folks did in Puerto Rico was very impressive.  I am curious about the Green Chemistry Fashion show. It looks like you had different campus organizations participate, is that what happened?  What guidelines were the participants given, and what kind of rubric/metrics were used in the judging? Were there any essays given, or presentations on the chemistry behind the fabrics? 

I did a quick web search to see what kind of material was being presented and found this site,
http://s1212.photobucket.com/albums/cc444/greenchemistryinstitute/ACS%20... Am I correct in believing these are from the fashion show? Was this the first time such an activity was done, and are there any plans to continue this type of activity?  Are there any "lessons learned" or advice to others who might wish to pursue such an activity in the future?

I note in Sweden the month of November focused on "Food Chemistry" and in Jamaica as part of the closing IYC ceremony you had a section "Kitchen Chemistry: the Sensational Science of Cuisine".  Is it possible to learn a bit more about what was done?  And did other countries celebrate IYC through "kitchen chemistry" activities related to their cultures?  I am actually seeing two, potentially three completely different themes which might be worth exploring and sustaining.

The first is what if different countries included into their National Chemistry Week/Day type activities a special session on the kitchen chemistry of their culture and ethnic groups?  This could then be compiled on an IUPAC CCE site where you could learn about the chemistry behind the cooking of different cultures throughout the world. Has this been done?

But there is a much more serious need to approach this, and that deals with nutrition. And there are sort of two sides to this coin.  Right now, according to the U.S. CDC, we are in the middle of an obesity epedimic, http://www.cdc.gov/cdctv/ObesityEpidemic/ and BMI (Body Mass Index) is a metric most kids know.  In fact, U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama has taken up this cause with projects like "LET'S MOVE: America's Move to Raise a Healthier Generation of Kids" and at this very moment is organizing a "State Dinner Just for Kids" challenge, where one kid from every state and territory will be invited to the white house for lunch. Here is a quote from the web site

Calling all kid chefs: The Healthy Lunchtime Challenge invites parents of kids ages 8-12 to submit an original recipe for a lunch that is nutritious and delicious. All entrants have the chance to win a trip to Washington D.C. and the opportunity to be invited to attend a Kids' “State Dinner” at the White House in August, where a selection of the winning healthy recipes will be served. 

http://www.letsmove.gov/kids-state-dinner?utm_source=email164&utm_medium...

Maybe during chemistry weeks other countries could have similar kitchen chemistry challenges, where you seek to create the most nutritional meal. Of course the "other side of that coin" is country's where this a famine, and not an obesity epidemic. Here too, "kitchen chemistry challenges" highlighting low on the food chain protein complementary diets and sanitary practices (like solar ovens and stills) could be of value.

It would be nice to know if other countries have integrated Kitchen Chemistry type activities into their IYC and beyond activities.