Mechanism Inspector, the second of our two interactive organic resources has undergone updates too! The main change is that it is now touch screen friendly having been converted to HTML5! This means Mechanism Inspector fun on the move!

The second main addition to the site is brand new curly arrow tool. Double- and single-headed arrows are covered in the context of single bonds, carbonyl bonds and C=C double bonds. The new tool allows students to explore the concept of curly arrows and how they are used to denote the movement of electrons in the breaking and formation of bonds.
There are more investigations to solve once students have developed their core investigative skills.

There are also now printable flow charts to help students ask the right questions when thinking about reactions possible with particular starting materials.

If you’ve never been to the Cheltenham Science Festival, it’s well worth putting on next year’s to-do list. With a great mix of science and showmanship, it’s all packed in to a great site right in the middle of town and there’s something for all ages and all knowledge levels – and the sun always shines*.

And as the Royal Society of Chemistry has been a Festival Partner for this year’s scientific extravaganza, I headed quite a long way south and even further west to see two of the packed-out live events we sponsored.

First up was a brilliant, whistle-stop tour through the periodic table with former Famelab finalist, salsa-dancing scientist and all-round bundle of energy Jamie Gallagher. His Periodic Success show contains everything from explosions and poisonings to space exploration – and there’s plenty of audience involvement.



Next (before an obligatory ice cream in the glorious sunshine) was a performance of Reverend Ron Lancaster’s legendary Bang goes the firework lecture. Learn Chemistry aficionados may have seen Ron in action before but it’s definitely worth checking out his sparkling pyrotechnic lecture we recorded earlier in the year and broke up into short clips to explain the chemistry in fireworks.

That was to mark his 50 years working as a chemistry teacher, vicar and firework manufacturer, so RSC Chief Exec Dr Robert Parker presented the ‘master blaster pastor’ with a blue RSC Chemical Landmark plaque as recognition of his contribution to chemistry and pyrotechnics.

To say thanks for putting on the show at Cheltenham for us, we gave Revd Ron a personalised Learn Chemistry labcoat, not forgetting to sew the pockets up so no rogue explosive materials end up slipping in!




Now I have to admit I haven’t always known quite how important chemistry is to making fireworks – from the basics of gunpowder to nitrocellulose and picric acid in producing colours, there’s a lot of chemistry to learn if, like Revd Ron, you want to be chosen to be the company to put on fireworks displays at events like the London Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

And finally, while Cheltenham was a truly explosive experience for me, it’s not the only festival or event the RSC are involved in. Head to the RSC events page on our website to keep across what’s coming up in your neck of the woods.

Edwin.

*This is a promise from Jamie Gallagher, so blame him if you get rained on next year!

Edwin Silvester is a Media Relations Executive at the Royal Society of Chemistry

It is my pleasure to share a variety of new outreach resources which have been demonstrated at Science festivals throughout the year so far. These are searchable using the key word ‘outreach’ and have been very popular with students, teachers and demonstrators alike; I hope you have fun trying them out for yourselves.
 




We now have six new outreach resources as follows…

• Make your own Bath bombs this activity can demonstrate a chemical reaction that produces a gas when reactants are in the correct state. Ideal for primary school students create some cool chemistry in the bath.
   
• A demo to teach about UV light and the action/importance of sunscreen. Sunscreen and UV light links nicely to the Faces of Chemistry Sun lotion video highlighting the chemistry behind sun lotions which help protect our skin from damaging ultraviolet radiation. 
   
• The calcium we absorb from our food is used to help keep our bones strong. But have you ever wondered what happens if some of the calcium carbonate is removed from our bones? Bendy bones is the resource for you!
   
• Speedy Star Jumps is an activity that allows the collection of data to test whether sports drinks make a difference to performance during short, high intensity exercise. This activity links up very nicely with a great many resources from Learn Chemistry not least Chemistry in Sport and 2012 Global experiment result.
   
• The food we eat is made up of many components including sugars, vitamins, proteins and fats. This activity, Make a Molecule, will help children learn more about the types of molecules found in fruits and sweets, as well as how molecules are formed.
   
• Red Cabbage pH indicator: This is a hands-on experiment that explains the measurement of pH using red cabbage indicator paper. A range of common household solutions can be tested but are they acidic or alkaline/basic?

Do you know what type of food you need to eat to help you see in the dark or help your body build strong bones and teeth? Play Elements of Nutrition to find out! In this fun and educational game for ages 6-12 years, the aim is to collect as much healthy food as you can, whilst avoiding the unhealthy snacks.

Synthesis Explorer, the curriculum-focused resource to help study organic chemistry reactions, has had a face-lift and some exciting additions! It was originally designed to be used by teachers and students to introduce, explore and revise organic chemistry in an interactive and dynamic format. Features include:

• an intuitive interface to access hundreds of compounds and reactions;
• synthetic pathways on an interactive canvas;
• a wide range of reactants, products and details of reaction conditions and reagents; and
• physical, structural and spectral data for each compound.

 
On top of all this, users can now arrive directly at the canvas to explore the compounds and reactions, or head to the quizzes section to be tested on reaction products, reaction conditions, physical properties, infrared spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, 1H NMR and 13C NMR (phew!). These questions use the information on the canvas and the physical, structural and spectral data to answer the questions and to get a feel for the depth of information that is available on Synthesis Explorer.

More substances and routes have also been added to the planner, making it relevant to A-Level and beyond! We also include links to the substance pages in Learn Chemistry and Mechanism Inspector, giving more links to closely related chemistry.

Have an explore of the new site and let us know what you think, it’s been a long time in the making!
 
(PS Look out for new Mechanism Inspector updates soon!)