Educational Level:

Roadmap Objectives:

• • Article: Learning how to read a scientific paper. Primary Literature Paper: G. Ramirez, G.; Beilock, S.; Writing About Testing Worries Boosts Exam Performance in the Classroom. Science 2011. Ancillary links / papers: http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/about/co2_measurements.html
  • Content area/major concepts: This may be the first scientific paper these students have ever read. The unit will mirror the exercise done in the CREATE workshop, where sections of the article will be presented and students will learn how to use the CREATE tools (concept mapping, cartooning, figure annotation, data transformation). Although the discipline is not chemistry, the topic of text anxiety is very well known and many students will have experienced some form of it in their lives, making this subject very relevant to beginning science students.
    
    Units, Significant figures
  • Methods or technology used to obtain data: Control groups, Statistics, Data representation
  • How the CREATE strategy was used:
  • Biggest teaching challenge: Because there is no chemistry in this paper, students may not see the relevance. Perhaps, mitigate this by beginning with a concept map for the challenges of studying science. It is quite likely that someone will put text anxiety on their map, thus leading to the topic.
• • Article: Melamine Contamination of Foods Short Article: “Kidney Damage in 12 Percent of Chinese Children Exposed to Melamine-Contaminated Dairy Products” Science Daily May 20, 2010. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100222121620.htm Short Article: “Simple Lasers Used To Detect Melamine In Baby Formula” Science Daily May 1, 2009. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090430161236.htm Primary Literature Paper: Mauer, L.J.; Chernyshova, A.A.; Hiatt, A.; Deering, A.; Davis, R.; Melamine Detection in Infant Formula Powder Using Near- and Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy J. Agric. Food Chem., 2009, 57, 3974–3980. http://0-pubs.acs.org.skyline.ucdenver.edu/doi/abs/10.1021/jf900587m?journalCode=jafcau&quickLinkVolume=57&quickLinkPage=3974&selectedTab=citation&volume=57 Ancillary links / papers: Mauer, L.J.; Chernyshova, A.A.; Hiatt, A.; Deering, A.; Davis, R.; Correction to Melamine Detection in Infant Formula Powder Using Near- and Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy J. Agric. Food Chem., 2009, 57, 8062–8062 http://0-pubs.acs.org.skyline.ucdenver.edu/doi/abs/10.1021/jf9024163?journalCode=jafcau&quickLinkVolume=57&quickLinkPage=8062&selectedTab=citation&volume=57 Kimbrough, D.R.; Chick Jensen, A; Using the Melamine Contamination of Foods To Enhance the Chemistry Classroom, J. Chem. Educ. 2010, 87, 496-499. http://0-pubs.acs.org.skyline.ucdenver.edu/doi/ipdf/10.1021/ed800174h
  • Content area/major concepts: The short articles discuss the melamine poisoning of baby formula in China and the scientific research spurred by the event. The associated primary literature paper describes a method for rapid detection and quantification of melamine content in baby formula without requiring sample preparation. This method could be used to screen baby food and other food products prior to distribution. This series of articles allows us to discuss the notion of “science to the rescue”, as well as the analytical methods and underlying pure chemistry.
    
    Chemical structure, Nutritional chemistry, Organic chemistry, Mass percent composition, Combustion analysis, Elemental Analysis, Dilution, Dimensional / Unit analysis, gram-to-mole conversions, Stepwise chemical reactions.
  • Methods or technology used to obtain data: Elemental and Compound composition analysis, Titration, Combustion analysis, IR Spectroscopy, Factorization analysis, statistical analysis.
  • How the CREATE strategy was used:
  • Biggest teaching challenge: This is the first substantive scientific literature unit in the course and the topics of molecular vibrations and IR spectroscopy may be challenging. The instrumentation in the primary literature paper is challenging, but it could easily be excluded. (Or, if the student population is ready for it, the instrumentation can be explored with cartooning.)
• • Article: Atmospheric CO2 Levels Short Article: “Carbon Dioxide in Atmosphere Increases to Troubling Milestones” The Denver Post, May 11, 2013 Primary Literature Paper:Komhyr, W.D.; Harris, T.B.; Waterman, L.S.; Chin, J.F.S.; Thoning, K.W.; Atmospheric carbon dioxide at Mauna Loa Observatory: 1. NOAA GMCC measurements with a non-dispersive infrared analyzer, J. Geophys. Res., 1989, 94, 8533-8547. (http://0-onlinelibrary.wiley.com.skyline.ucdenver.edu/doi/10.1029/JD094iD06p08533/pdf) Additional Primary Literature Paper (for further investigation, comparison work, extra credit, etc. ): Etheridge, D.M.; Steele, L.P.; Langenfelds, R.L.; Francey, R.J.; Natural and anthropogenic changes in atmospheric CO2 over the last 1000 years from air in Arctic ice and firn. J. Geophys. Res. 1996, 101, 4115-4128. (http://0-onlinelibrary.wiley.com.skyline.ucdenver.edu/doi/10.1029/95JD03410/pdf) Ancillary links / papers: http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/about/co2_measurements.html
  • Content area/major concepts: The subject of the short article, atmospheric CO2 levels, is well covered in the popular media, has scientific as well as social and political relevance, and incoming students will almost certainly have heard of it. The short article contains a good description of present and historical CO2 levels, but a poor representation of the scientific data, and no information at all on why CO2 levels affect atmospheric temperatures and climate. Studying the short article along with a more comprehensive and exhaustive account from the scientific literature will provide a good balance between the good, bad, and the ugly of pop science and real science.
    
    Nomenclature, Mixtures, Scientific measurements, Concentration units (ppm, mole fraction), Significant figures, Gas laws, Energy transfer, Heat, the Electromagnetic spectrum, IR spectroscopy, Molecular vibrations, Greenhouse effect, Climate change, Atmospheric monitoring (present, past), Photosynthesis, Combustion Reactions.
  • Methods or technology used to obtain data: IR Spectroscopy, Atmospheric monitoring, Composition analysis, Trend analysis, Statistical analysis
  • How the CREATE strategy was used:
  • Biggest teaching challenge: We may have not yet covered some of the chemistry topics but because the unit covers a topic widely discussed in the popular media, students will be grounded in the colloquial context
• • Article: Using chemistry to understand the provenance of art materials Walton, M.S.; Trentelman, K.; Romano-Egyptian Red Lead Pigment: A Subsidiary Commodity of Spanish Silver Mining and Refinement, Archaeometry, 2009, 51, 845-860.
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• • Article: New Yorker Article on Daniel Nocera Reece, S.Y.; Hamel, J.A.; Sung, K.; Jarvi, T.D.; Esswein, A.J.; Pijpers, J.J.H.; Nocera, D.G.; Wireless Solar Water Splitting Using Silcon-based Semiconductors and Earth-Abundant Catalysts, Science, 2011, 334, 645-648.
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  • How the CREATE strategy was used:
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