----- Original Message -----

From: Mary Beth Mulcahy

To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU

Sent: Tuesday, October 6, 2020 7:50 AM

Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] C&EN: Thoughts on Kate the Chemist's "The Big Book of Experiments"?

Ralph,

Your comments about concerning chemistry being about creating uncontrolled releases of energy made me think about my recent experiences homeschooling to 10 years olds. A couple of weeks ago, they told me my chemistry lesson "sucked." Ouch, soap/hard water precipitates did not thrill them. They then asked if they could do some fire experiments. 

So, I walked into the acids and bases lessons feeling a little sheepish and not knowing what to think. I handed them litmus paper and a bunch of household items and told them to explore. The color-changing paper fascinated them. Then we pulled out the pH indicators for our fish tank and the rainbow of colors got them very excited. I topped it off with purple cabbage juice indicator and you would have thought I was the coolest teacher in the world. So, I have anecdote proof that fire isn't necessary :)

Jyllian, I don't know if this is helpful to you, but for anyone else out there looking for homeschooling science kits, I have really enjoyed the  simplicity and completeness of this one

https://www.homesciencetools.com/product/complete-introduction-to-chemistry-kit/?gclid=CjwKCAjwq_D7BRADEiwAVMDdHkAoR63tr73DZreR0xZj4lVZZDotkBQz8Or8Yf8E_swn_l0UoVJO-RoC3vgQAvD_BwE . The experiments are simple enough for supervised 10 year olds to do and the fact that everything is included has stopped my last minute need to run to the store for random things. 

Mary Beth

On Sat, Oct 3, 2020 at 1:43 PM Stuart, Ralph <Ralph.Stuart**At_Symbol_Here**keene.edu> wrote:

> Has anyone looked at the book and, if so, do you have any safety concerns? I'd expect that the publisher would have vetted it, but I also know that Kate goes for big drama in television appearances.

> 

Thanks for asking an important question. We have been struggling with this question on the Committee on Chemical Safety for a while. In the process, we have identified a variety of perspectives from which it can be addressed:

- Are we concerned about foreseeable safety concerns arising during the demonstrations as described in the book (this is likely to be the extent of the vetting by the publisher);

- Is the concern that children freelancing based on ideas in the book that have serious accidents (examples of these types of incidents are easy to find on Youtube);

- or is it with reinforcing the idea that chemistry is about creating uncontrolled releases of energy and matter as the author demonstrates in the video you referenced?



My concern with the last category is that the "exocharmic" nature of these demonstrations is that most of planning and safety precautions that allow these demonstrations to be performed without incident are hidden from the audience. The comments on Amazon about the book suggest that this concern also arises for some of the people who bought this book (e.g. the comments that dry ice and other non-household chemicals are necessary for many of the demonstrations).



So I guess to answer your question, I expect to always find safety concerns with a collection of chemical procedures that suggest that they are for "all ages and interest levels". The recent ACS Chemical Health & Safety editorial "Let's Disagree about Safety" at https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.chas.0c00050

describes the problems this approach to chemistry education can present.



- Ralph



Ralph Stuart, CIH, CCHO

Environmental Safety Manager

Keene State College

603 358-2859



ralph.stuart**At_Symbol_Here**keene.edu



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