California Section
American Chemical Society
Then, have some fun with the Elements at the following web sites!
A free, interactive, and print-friendly periodic table available in 34 languages
Dynamic Periodic Table:
Dynamic Periodic Table en Español:
This short, fun video of Theodore Gray's periodic table, which features an original collection of gorgeous photographic representations of the 118 elements in the periodic table, is set to Tom Lehrer's "The Element Song". Check it out!”
They Might Be Giants: "Meet the Elements" (BB Video)
And here are the "elements" series of videos by British chemistry professor Martyn Poliakoff - a first-rate scientist and teacher, delightful eccentric, (and true geek).
Links to chemistry on other planets:
Views of the Solar System:
History of space exploration:
Mariners 6 & 7 to Mars
Los planetas en Español:
Welcome to Family Science Night -Bret Harte Middle School- Hayward October 2009!
   
  
California Section ACS 2008 NATIONAL CHEMISTRY WEEK- OCTOBER 19-25, 2008 "HAVING A BALL WITH CHEMISTRY"Family Science Night- October 22, 2008 at Oak Grove Middle School The Scientific Jam welcomes visitors to Family Science Night at Oak Grove Middle School.  
Family Science Night visitors learn how Dr. Bryan Balazs of LLNL launches to make molecular models at Oak Grove the acrylic-oxygen rocket. Middle School on Oct. 22, 2008   The Electrolytes in sports drinks light up Gina Samec checks out her starch/ LEDS at Oak Grove Middle School borax/ white glue super ball 
What Smell?   The California Section celebrated National Chemistry Week with another fabulous Family Science Night on Wednesday 22 October 2008 at Oak Grove Middle School in Concord, CA. The Scientific Jam opened the show and proved once again that chemistry (and physics) rock. Principal Terry McCormick welcomed the ACS, and Dr. Alex Madonik, NCW Coordinator, presented the school with a giant C60 model built from Earth Day squeeze balls and chopsticks by the Alpha Chi Sigma chemistry fraternity at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Bryan Balazs of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory thrilled the audience with chemistry magic and his acrylic oxygen rocket. We then launched the hands-on activities, which included starch/borax super balls, LED electrolyte tests, matching plant scents with molecular models, a pH laboratory, plastic recycling, UV-sensitive beads, a DNA/RNA base-pairing game, slime, and the ever-popular liquid nitrogen ice cream. Dr. Kent Campbell and Igor Skaredoff entertained visitors with their own chemistry magic.
It was a night to remember for kids of all ages. Oak Grove Middle School has a diverse student population, and nearly two thirds are learning English as a second language. Special thanks to Martha Potts, community liaison at Oak Grove, for assistance in translating the program and other materials into Spanish, and to Oak Grove teacher Diane Shamai, who took the lead to host Family Science Night. Thanks also to our other volunteers, including the slime team from Chevron Corporation (Michael Cheng, Larry Jossens, Elaine Yamaguchi, Sheila Yeh, and more) and Dr. Margareta Sequin and her students at San Francisco State University, for a great show. Dr. Sequin’s students again provided the vital contacts that led to our initial visit to the school in June. When asked about the event (for which the college students had to drive through miserable traffic and for which there are no extra credits), the volunteers invariably replied: "That was fun!" Some of them already signed up for our next Family Science Night! Thanks as well to Tom Bischof, Andrina Carlsen, Philip Fay, Evan Lockwood, Shirley Song, and the entire volunteer team from Alpha Chi Sigma at UC Berkeley, and to ACS members Anne and John Frazer, Sheila Kanodia, Ann Rosecrance and Mitch Goldstein, and to Foothill Middle School teacher Margaret Elliott, Birgit Drews of Celera Corporation, Blanca Domingo, and Nancy Samec.
Our friends at the Alpha Chi Sigma invited us to the pre-football game fun on Saturday 25 October 2008 as the Cal Bears prepared to host the UCLA Bruins. Fans were delighted with NCW souvenirs, especially Nanomoles and Hooray for Chemistry flying disks, as well as Mole tattoos, periodic table wallet cards, and, of course, NCW helium balloons. Thanks again to AXE members Evan Lockwood, Tom Bischoff, Shirley Song, Ian Mathews, and Crystal Lee. Go Bears!
Dr. Alex Madonik
National Chemistry Week Coordinator
California Section, ACS 2007 NATIONAL CHEMISTRY WEEK- "MANY FACES OF CHEMISTRY"- Family Science Night- October 23, 2007 
NATIONAL CHEMISTRY WEEK - HOW IT ALL BEGANBy Jeanne Pimentel
 When? In 1987 – twenty years ago! Where? Right here in the Bay Area!
Who? George Pimentel, a chemistry professor at UC Berkeley, and President of ACS in 1986, was deeply concerned with the public image of chemistry. He proposed National Chemistry Day and got the ACS to agree to seven pilot programs that year, organized by local sections, because he felt that "public service at the local level is … our most effective means of convincing the public at large of the importance of chemistry in advancing and protecting our quality of life." The favorable response led to the first National Chemistry Day being celebrated all over the country in 1987, enthusiastically supported by the 1987 ACS president, Mary Good.
How? George knew that the California Section would put on a great show, with people like Attila Pavlath and Sam Markowitz in charge, so he decided to do something extra at the University. He chose the Lawrence Hall of Science as the venue for a day long program for students and teachers. He also organized special public lectures in the evening by stars of the chemistry faculty, Angelica Stacy and John Hearst.
George himself talked about the publication that same year of the book "Opportunities in Chemistry Today and Tomorrow" based on the so-called "Pimentel Report." The National Research Council had commissioned this report to inform Congress about the status of chemistry in general and the most fertile areas of chemical research. The new version was shorter and less technical, geared toward high school and college readers, and the general public. It was co-authored by George’s daughter, Jan Coonrod, a high school science teacher, and its whimsical vignettes featured the effect of new chemistry research on everyday life. On that first National Chemistry Day, 400 copies were distributed free to science teachers.
Like all good scientists, the ACS people took time to review the data from their experiment, and launched the first annual National Chemistry Week in 1989.
Sadly, George was not there to see it – he died of cancer in June 1989. But how happy he would be to know that his idea has flourished and continues to introduce people young and old to what he called "this wondrous world" of chemistry.
And, two of the key participants in that first event in Berkeley, Angelica Stacy and Jan Coonrod, are now collaborating on another chemistry book – or rather, a new high school curriculum -- "Living By Chemistry". Happy National Chemistry Week!
For more about George Pimentel and his continuing influence in chemistry, go to <www.georgepimentel.com>
Where? National Chemistry Week went truly national in 1997. Our NCW Coordinators worked with the community to organize our first Family Science Night at Orinda Intermediate School. This event drew over 1000 participants, and was recognized by an ACS ChemLuminary Award. The California Section has gone on to co-sponsor a Family Science Night event every year since:
1997 Orinda Intermediate School
1998 Albany Middle School
1999 Piedmont Middle School
2000 Bret Harte Middle School (Oakland)
2001 King Middle School (Berkeley)
2002 Wood Middle School (Alameda)
2003 Winton Middle School (Hayward)
2004 Elmhurst Middle School (Oakland)
2005 Aptos Middle School (San Francisco)
2006 Willard Middle School (Berkeley)
2007 Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School (Moraga)
2008 Oak Grove Middle School (Concord) 2009 Ben Franklin Middle School (Colma)
2009 Bret Harte Middle School (Hayward)
-- Alex Madonik
NCW Coordinator
California Section, ACS
510-872-0528 cell
madonika@comcast.net |
