Europium

Today? Humbling.

I was fortunate to attend the teacher "motivation" session at the school where I will be observing this fall. It involved music from the marching band, a showcase of school talent, student guest speakers, and celebrating successes from the past school year, but most of all it set the goals for this coming school year.

If you had only attended the first part of the morning, you would think that this school district thrives, that it's teachers love their jobs, that the students love their school, and that the highest academic achievement is reached. Wrong. While many of the teachers cited in a survey that they "liked" their job, very few said they loved it. And the students leave in droves from their school - last year alone, the school lost 400 kids from the high school (which has 1200 in attendance). As for academic achievement, the school has not made adequate yearly progress (a No Child Left Behind buzz phrase) for the last seven years. Yikes.

The worst part? Listening to how the community doesn't respect their school. I get it, I totally do - it's easiest to state a school's faults then it is to state it's successes. As I learned today, we don't often take pride in our successes (the superintendent did an amazing job of that with the beginning of the session). But the message that struck me the most about the lack of respect was this - the school board president asked the teachers: How can we expect the community to sing its praises for the school when we can't even sing those praises ourselves?

Food for thought my friends.


Common Occurrences: Nearly all compact fluorescent bulbs contain europium phosphors (read: fancy chemistry term for pleasing light).

Fun Fact: Europium is used for labeling on the Euro.

Samarium

So once again, I break the whole wait until the periodic table titles end to talk about other science-y things. But with Hurricane Irene, I thought it might be appropriate to give a shout out to our good friend water. And since water is kind of a big deal, it will be mentioned plenty more times. On the topic of big deals, here are some pictures from LP's local newspaper documenting the big damage that water causes. Good thing I left early on Sunday...

This is a road pretty close to my house. Apparently water is powerful enough to strip off a layer of asphalt. CRAZY.

The remains of the firehall in the next town over.

Need I explain more than meets the eye on this one?

No joke, when the weather is normal, the water under this bridge is probably six to ten feet below the road. Not so much now.

Fun Fact: Samarium-cobalt magnets are found on electric guitar pickups, as the magnets are known to withstand high temperatures (If any of you are musicians, you might understand this more than I do).

Promethium

Once the periodic table titles ran out, I was planning on naming posts after scientists, scientific principles, compounds, etc., with one of those being combustion. But after blowing up my car today, I feel it is fitting to provide some knowledge about combustion.

Combustion involves hydrocarbons (read: compounds with hydrogen and carbon) reacting with oxygen to form carbon dioxide and water. Being fancy, the equation is as follows:

hydrocarbon + oxygen (gas) --> carbon dioxide (gas) + water (gas and liquid)

Here is where combustion gets interesting - you have all heard that you should never start your car in the garage with the door closed, as you'll produce carbon monoxide. Ever wonder why? You car engine is a combustion engine (aka it burns gas which is a mixture of hydrocarbons). With an infinite supply of oxygen (aka outdoors) it will always produce carbon dioxide and water. BUT, if you accidentally leave your car running in the garage with the door closed, the oxygen supply is limited, and the combustion reaction forms carbon monoxide and water instead. Cool, right? (well not really, since carbon monoxide is deadly :/)

Fortunately, I didn't start my car in the garage, as it's always parked outside. However, it's compressor did decide to die, which subsequently lit my fan belt on fire (another not so lovely combustion reaction). So I had a lovely morning standing next to my smoking car while I waited for someone to drive me home. Good thing I made it home from Michigan with two miles of driving to spare. Rest in peace Durango - you've been a good car.


Fun Fact: Like technetium, promethium is one of few elements above bismuth (element 83) that is not stable (read: radioactive). It was once used as a luminous paint after the harmful effects of radium were discovered and before tritium provided a safe alternative.

Neodymium

So I have been home for a couple days now and I am dreading the day I have to leave. I forgot how good it feels to be home and how amazing Lake Placid is. To give you a sample, here are some funnies from my time being home:

1. You know you've made it home when the first vehicles you see after crossing back to the U.S. from the Canada is a horse and buggy and a farm tractor.

2. You know you've made it home when about 3 miles from your house you see a former classmate hitchhiking.

3. Being covered in dog hair is totally allowable. Being covered in dog drool? Also totally allowable.

4. Having your dog as a copilot is the best person to drive with. When you want ice cream, he totally eats a bowl with you.

5. The neighbor dog totally lives at your house. He sits on the deck adjacent to the dining room when you eat dinner. He also is dumb enough to get his collar stuck on a lawn chair and drag it around the deck.

6. Mountain tops are higher than clouds. This is a definite when it's about to rain.

7. A random sudden downpour does not stop a farmer's market. Vendors always have tarps handy and everyone puts the hood up on their raincoats.

8. Your next door neighbor bakes a cake and brings it over. So sweet.

9. Pick-up truck. 'Nough said.

10. Everywhere you go, you see someone you know and stop to have a conversation, even if that means clogging up the supermarket line talking to the french teacher from high school you never had.


Common Occurrences: Neodymium is found in fake earrings, as it is a strong enough magnet to attract through an ear lobe. Along with earrings, neodymium is popping up in bracelets, where it is located at acupuncture points at the wrist (Side note: I have one of these bracelets and I thought it was whack, but it totally feels different when you wear the bracelet differently).

Fun Fact: The strongest magnets are made from neodymium. To give you an idea about its strength, neodymium magnets will be attracted toward each other from more than a foot away (don't put your hand in the middle :) )

Praseodymium

This post makes it official: We are halfway through the periodic table! I guess this is when I should start planning the name of posts after the elements have run out, but I still have 59 posts before I absolutely have to worry ;)

As a look back on the first 59, here are some of my favorites...

Favorite Post: Lithium

Favorite Fun Fact: Manganese
During the 1970s Howard Hughes commissioned a ship the Hughes Glomar Explorer to find manganese nodules (small round lumps) on the ocean floor near Hawaii. However, his real mission with the Glomar Explorer was to raise a sunken ballistic Russian submarine for the CIA. The manganese nodules were simply a ruse for treasure hunters and unfortunately worthless.

Favorite Video: Nitrogen

Fun Fact: The glasses that glass-blowers wear to protect their eyes contain praseodymium, as the element knocks out the bright yellow emission line from sodium that is the bright light emitted from a torch. Instead of seeing the blinding yellow light, glass-blowers see a dull blue glow from the torch and an orange glow from hot glass.

Cerium

Hi all! I am currently driving across parts of the United States and Canada, so I wanted to leave you with some videos. The first is produced by the American Chemical Society to emphasize the importance of chemistry (in case you haven't noticed - it's kind of a big deal). Also, enjoy the bloopers from The Big Bang Theory - if you haven't seen the show, watch it! My sister and I have even gotten our parents hooked - while Christine and I laugh at the subtle science humor, my parents still get a chuckle from Sheldon's mannerisms.

Common Occurrences: Cerium oxide powder is used for grinding and polishing glass. Cerium is also included in "mischmetal" (mixed metals) that are used as flint in lighters.

Fun Fact: Cerium is "pyrophoric," meaning that is catches fire when it is scratched, grinded, or filed. Because of this quality, cerium is used for special effects in movies involving action scenes like cars being dragged on concrete.

Lanthanum

Have you missed me? Because I have certainly missed blogging! I just finished up with my finals week, which consisted of three papers that each had more than one part...ick. But they are done and I am headed home on an 11 hour drive tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited!!

Despite being focused on a computer screen all week, so I have nothing super cool to report. Enjoy this video about today's title element instead!

Fun Fact: Lanthanum is one of the "rare" earth metals, yet it is three times more abundant in the Earth's crust than lead.

Barium

Random fact for today: It is Napoleon's 242nd birthday! To say the least, that is a lot of birthdays.

So why does this matter? I am a sucker for the integration of academic subjects, so when I noticed that history and chemistry had a link through Napoleon I couldn't resist. You may have noticed Napoleon's Buttons as a link in the Science Resources tab, so I wanted to discuss the chemistry (and history) of the title.

I am no historian, but what I do remember about Napoleon from my high school days was his tiny stature and that he was an emperor/conqueror (besides loving to do that "one arm in coat" pose). Napoleon had some success in creating a French empire, but ultimately chemistry failed him in the invasion of Russia. Among many factors Napoleon's retreat from Russia was due to the extremely cold winter faced by inadequately prepared French troops. Their lack of preparedness ties into their uniforms which had tin buttons. As I've mentioned in a fun fact, tin becomes brittle and turns to powder in cold conditions, so imagine being a soldier whose buttons fell off (not so hot...literally and figuratively).

Napoleon's Buttons (the book not the concept) documents these interplays between science and history/culture with other molecules, but it is important to understand that even the best laid plans get foiled by silly little things like disintegrating tin buttons.


Chemistry Joke: Q: What do you do with a dead chemist?
                           A: Barium!

Fun Fact: Barium sulfate is a compound that is used in oil well drilling and enemas (what a link!). When drilling oil wells, barium sulfate is pumped into the hole to bring rock chips up and away from the drill head. In medical terms, barium sulfate can be swallowed or be used in an enema as a contrast for digestive tract x-rays. Yum. 

Cesium

If you have time to watch this tomorrow, check it out! MSNBC is doing a spotlight on schools and this particular segment is focusing on Detroit Public Schools (DPS) and its current situation. Much of DPS is being turned over to charter schools with the hopes that the school system will pull itself out of the mud (most schools are failing and are running under capacity). And guess what? I'll be there!! So try and find me in the giant crowd of students, teachers, future teachers, politicians, and people who care about education!


Chemistry Joke: Q: What do you do with a dead chemist?
                           A: ??? (To be revealed tomorrow)

Fun Fact: Atomic clocks measure time using cesium-133 atoms. The clocks are so accurate that if the atomic clock in Boulder, CO had been built by dinosaurs 70 million years ago (imagine: T-Rex in a hard hat), it would be off by less than a second today!

Xenon

Short post today!! Check out the new tab at the top of my blog called "Science Resources." There are a mix of new sources, blogs, and books all related to science  that you can surf, so explore! Be sure to check in on the tab because it is a work in progress, so I'm sure it will get changed or have resources added to it. I will also be putting up a similar tab soon for education, but it's still in the making.

If you have suggestions regarding either resource, I would love your input!


Fun Fact: Nobel gases are usually inert (do not react with other elements), but xenon is an exception. While xenon prefers to not react with other elements, it will react with fluorine to form xenon difluoride. This compound can be used in organic synthesis or etching but decomposes when it comes into contact with light or water vapor.

Iodine

Since starting this blog, I promised myself I had to get to iodine (I know, I am weird). Iodine has made headlines with the earthquake in Japan and the subsequent nuclear crisis. Much of the problem in Japan is due to an increase in radioactive elements in the environment after nuclear power plants went awry.

While the release of strontium-90, cesium-137, and plutonium-239 into the environment will have damaging long term effects (children of children of children [etc.] will still have higher risks of cancer), iodine-131 caused the most immediate risk. Radioactive iodine breaks down fast due to a short half-life (days versus thousands of years) but if it is taken up by the body  it accumulates in the thyroid and can be cancerous. Because so much radioactive iodine was released during the nuclear crisis, this turned into a HUGE problem. To alleviate the problem, persons living near the Fukushima plant were provided with potassium iodide pills which block the accumulation of radioactive iodine in the thyroid. These same pills were used in Chernobyl with great success, but ultimately many of these people will still succumb to cancer because of exposure to high levels of radiation.

Though the risk to radioactive iodine will recede rapidly, this does not mean that Japan is out of the woods. The workers who have so diligently been trying to control the nuclear rods will assuredly die from radiation poisoning and the surrounding areas near the plants will be contaminated for hundreds to thousands of years. One estimate suggests that it will take 100 years JUST for the nuclear rods to cool down. What this means is that these nuclear rods cannot be removed and will continue to cause damage for another 100 years...it's an extremely frightening but real scenario. Even though the news will die down about Japan, just like it did in Chernobyl does not mean that the problem will also go away. Japan and the rest of the world will be dealing with this past our lifetime.

Here's a sad but heartwarming story. To save Japan from nuclear meltdown, a group of 50 workers stayed behind and remained at the plant sacrificing their own lives for their country. And now, a group of retired workers have come to aid the "Fukushima 50" knowing that even if they die of cancer, they have lived a fulfilled life. It's crazy to even think about - these people know and understand that they will die because of the work they do. And despite their hard work, there will still be ramifications.

Fun Fact: Iodine has been used widely as a disinfectant, and still is around in that role today. When it is applied to an infection, iodine disinfects by "brute chemical attack," such that bacteria have no way of becoming resistant. The overall story to this fact? If antibiotic resistance continues at its current rate, iodine may make a comeback as a disinfectant.

Tellurium

Yesterday's post talked about the connotations we have for the word "scientist." Being a scientist myself, it got me wondering if there was a difference between what might be seen if I did an image search just for "science." Here are some of the images:

Already a better picture - normal looking people collaborating or possibly mentoring. Love it!

The integration of sciences - we see atoms (chemistry), rockets (physics), books, etc.

Looking at the interconnectedness of objects - on the fourth row from the bottom are ways to measure from low technology (a watch) to high technology (a microscope).

Being a scientist? You have to be mad or old. Participating in science? An event for the family.

Explore the possibilities.

This is crazy, huh? What a drastic change from "scientist." Somehow science is perceived as having more accessibility for everyone, but being a scientist is daunting and hard. But I tell you this: we are all scientists. I don't want this to come off lame, so let me qualify. Your knowledge of relationships that exist between different things, your questioning about the things around you - that's what a scientist does. Welcome to that fact.


Fun Fact: The rewritable layer of DVD and Blu-ray disks is composed of tellurium suboxide. Its reflectivity allows the discs to be rewritten by switching back and forth between two states by laser heating.

Antimony

I have been told I am a nerd when it comes to my obsession with reading about education (point taken). But here's a great example about the importance of being well versed in such knowledge. Did you know that students who are asked to draw a scientist almost always draw a white man with white hair? Does that description sound familiar (Hint: E=mc^2).

To further my point, I challenge you to name all the scientists that pop into your head. Ten to one, your list will include Albert Einstein. But how many other scientists can you name? 5, 10, 25, 50, 100? (even trickier...how many did you name that are women?). Try this for a different topic, such as historical figures or celebrities. How does your knowledge compare? Are the "Brangelina's" of our society more important than scientists who push our society forward with technological and medical advances?

Don't feel bad if you couldn't name too many scientists, even Google struggles. In wonderment of the children drawing Albert Einstein experiment, I decided to do an image search for "scientist." Here's what I found:

Hazmat suit and a microscope - at least the individual in this picture is real.

White man, white hair. But are all scientists mad?

Another Albert Einstein-like image. It's a wonder I haven't gone bald yet...

I love this one. Not only have we not progressed past Dick and Jane but clearly you should smile while holding poisonous acid. Yup, I love me some dangerous chemicals (at least Mr. Scientist is wearing proper safety attire).

My favorite - the modern day mad scientist + Albert Einstein. AWESOME (not).

This has to register some level of craziness, right? Why is there such a disconnect between science and society? Why do we only think of science in terms of old men? And even worse how many of you can recite "E equals m c squared" but have no idea what it means?

To be continued tomorrow...

Fun Fact: While antimony itself is brittle, it is used to harden other metals. For example, the molds in Johann Guttenberg's printing press were composed of a mixture of lead, tin, and antimony. Similarly, lead bullets and lead-acid car batteries have traces of antimony to strengthen bullets and electrodes, respectively.

Tin

I never intended for this blog to be political or controversial, but some of science is just that. I caught on to reading Pharyngula, a science blog, and this video was posted recently. I have debated posting it, but I think it is extremely important to see all perspectives that people come from when discussing topics like evolution.

The narrator speaks really fast so I hope you can keep up! To read more about Pharyngula's reply to the video, click here. In his blog, Pharyngula explains his opposition to the movie with scientific discoveries. I am not here to sway anyone's ideas so believe what you choose...just be open and understanding to both sides.




 Fun Fact: Most items that bear the name tin (tin cans, tin foil, tin roofs, etc.) are not and were never made of actual tin. In common vernacular, tin refers to a thin sheet of any metal, not the element itself.

Fun Fact 2: At cold temperatures, tin turns from a silvery metal to a dark grey powder. This caused a problem for money made of tin, as the weather made things worthless. In Europe, pipe organs made of tin were known for having "tin pests" when the winters were cold, as the pipes would disintegrate.

Indium

Word for the day: resiliency. If there is one thing I am working on becoming is more resilient - not letting things bug me and trying not to dwell on menial issues. I'm feeling it's probably important as a future educator.

Speaking of future educators, check out what's happening around the good ol' U S of A in terms of education:
Revamping teacher education
U.S. Secretary of Education thinks teachers deserve a greater salary
Test cheating scandal

Oh, and enjoy this song - it's a nice and cheery. I play it every morning while getting ready!

Trivia Answer: Claude Monet mentions 3 elements directly in his quote - lead, cadmium, and cobalt and 3 indirectly - chromium ("chrome"), mercury, and sulfur ("vermilion" is mercuric sulfide).

Fun Fact: You are more than likely using indium right now to read my blog, as it is a primary component of LCD screens. Indium tin oxide is a transparent conductor of electricity that allows individual pixels to communicate with others on a computer, TV, or iPad screen.

Cadmium

As you might have noticed lately, I have been struggling with keeping the blog up on a daily basis. As my intensive year-long master's program really starts to get into the swing of things, be prepared to see fewer posts per week. I know...this saddens me too, but time is of the essence.

Speaking of blog writing, I had this weird epiphany today about writing. If there is one thing that I have struggled through high school, college, and even into grad school with is writing. I don't particularly enjoy writing (weird, right? I keep a blog) and I think a lot of my apprehension is that almost all of my writing has been graded or under the scrutiny of a teacher. It's kind of crazy, right? If we think about how many times we write during high school and college, many of us will say that it was only when we had to or when something was assigned. I tried once to keep a journal, but I thought I didn't have anything interesting to write nor did I think I was a good enough writer to be worthy of such daily digests. Sometimes I have these same feelings with my blog.

The reason I write this is not to talk about how much I detest formal writing, but I had a meta-cognitive moment as a future teacher who will definitely assign writing (got to love lab reports!). I think the primary reason I detest writing is because it was always for a grade and never about writing about interests or just writing for the sake of writing. One has to be mindful of sentence structure, grammar, colloquialism, etc., such that it is easy to forget how writing can be an outlet and something enjoyable. I have a professor currently who makes us do these free flowing writing exercises and for some reason I still hate them. HATE THEM. I think it ties back to the judgment factor or that our class writing is always topic specific. Really I want to write about my feelings on the topics, my frustrations, what is on my mind. I think writing allows you to get out of your system what you can't blurt out in the middle of class.

So what is this diatribe for? I've been questioning how to use writing in my future classroom knowing that there are students who share similar experiences with writing. I have tossed around the idea of a class blog lately where students can write about what interests them in the sciences, science in the news, what they are learning, etc. I want my students to know that writing doesn't always have to be graded to produce something that others will enjoy or want to read. And with a blog, my students can go home and show their parents and ultimately be proud of what their class is doing. Let's be real here - who doesn't love a science blog?


Common Occurrences: Cadmium is mostly commonly found in nickel-cadmium batteries, but it is also important in preventing rust on nuts and bolts required for airplane landing equipment (kind of a big deal).

Trivia: The well known impressionist Claude Monet once said "I use white lead, cadmium yellow, vermilion, madder, cobalt blue, and chrome green" for his paint pigments. Can you spot all of the elements in this quote? (Hint: There are more than 4).

Fun Fact: Like lead and mercury (near neighbors to cadmium on the periodic table), cadmium is both toxic and poisonous and accumulates in the environment (read: it is not used and cannot be broken down by organisms). The lesson to be learned from this? Be green and dispose of old batteries properly.

Silver

WARNING: Do not use silver supplements (unless you want to form the next blue man group ;) ). 

Silver is pretty common, in that it is found in jewelry, silverware (what a surprise!), coins, mirrors, conductors, old photography film, etc. But despite silver's ubiquity, it can be detrimental to the human body if ingested in large quantities.

Argyria is an ailment that causes skin to turn blue or blue-grey after ingestion of silver containing compounds. This condition was more common during the early 20th century before it was discovered that medicine containing silver could have detrimental effects, but argyria has hit the news again with the increase in holistic remedies containing silver and apocalypse scares (people drink silver in fear that the post-apocalyptic world will be lacking antibiotics). Check out the following video:

The blue color from argyria is a result of sun exposure, so to cut down on the cosmetic look of the condition, persons with argyria could potentially become recluses ala Howard Hughes and would turn to a normal color. But because argyria has no known side effects other than turning colors, it is not deadly, so most people with the condition tend to continue their silver drinking habits. Strange, right?


Fun Fact: During the 19th century, silver was commonly used as a disinfectant. In this manner, sailors would place a silver coin in wine and water barrels to keep the drinks potable. American pioneers did the same by placing silver coins in milk to keep it from spoiling.