CCEW Educational Resources

Student Engagement

• Illustrated Poem Contest
  As part of every CCEW celebration, ACS sponsors a contest for students (Grades K-12).
• ACS Store
  Purchase promotional products for CCEW, such as mood pencils, temporary tattoos, stickers, tote bags, and the famous Enviro-Moles.

Educator Resources

• Celebrating Chemistry
  The Celebrating Chemistry publication is designed to engage and educate children (Grades 4-6) in the basic principles of chemistry and is available in both English and Spanish.
• Meg A. Mole Career Profiles
  Read all about Meg’s adventures! These interviews are an excellent resource for teachers to inform their students about the activities chemists perform everyday.
• ChemMatters
  ChemMatters is a magazine that helps high school students find connections between chemistry and the world around them. Read and share the CCEW-themed article, "Celebrating Paper: Why Paper Thrives in a Digital World."
  
• Journal of Chemical Education
  A journal for chemical educators featuring activities and articles.
• Science Safety Guidelines
  Recommendations to incorporate safe practices into your teaching curriculum.
• Explore Science: Let’s Do Chemistry
  A set of free hands-on activities and tips for chemists and science educators to use when they share science with school-aged children. Videos and instructions show prospective presenters what to do and say to empower children in guided exploration.

Articles and Activities

• Pre-K to Grade 5 (from Adventures in Chemistry)
  • H is for Helicopter
    Make a paper helicopter, drop it, and watch it spin as it falls.
  • K is for Kazoo
    Make silly sounds with the tube from a roll of toilet paper, a small piece of wax paper, and one rubber band.
  • Z is for Zoomers
    Make a rocket from a piece of paper and a coffee stirrer. Use an empty plastic bottle, a straw, and pressure to make your rocket zoom
• Grades 3-5 (from Science Activities in the Classroom)
  • Making Recycled Paper
    Learn how to recycle your own paper using needlepoint screens.
  • Newspaper Collage
    Create a collage by transferring color pictures from a newspaper onto a piece of white paper.
  • Milli’s Insulation Investigation
    Test paper and other materials to find out which one is the best insulator.
  • Marker Butterflies
    Coffee filter paper, absorbs water very easily. Use water based markers to add color to a coffee filter. Add water to the filter paper to see the color spread.
  • The Bookland Bridge
    Build simple paper bridges to find out which shape is the strongest.
  • Plane Smarts
    Fold the same paper airplane out of different types of paper and test how each one flies.
• Grades 3-8 (from Inquiry in Action)
  • Look-alike Liquids
    Place one drop of water, saltwater, rubbing alcohol, and detergent solution on a piece of paper and see how the liquids with the paper surface. All four liquids look the same, but there are differences in the way they interact with the paper. Next, try different types of paper, such as brown paper towel, wax paper, drawing paper, and construction paper to notice some very interesting differences.
  • Developing Tests to Distinguish Between Similar-Looking Liquids
    The way different liquids absorb (or not) into different paper surfaces is so distinct that you can use a paper test to identify an unknown liquid. Water and saltwater seem similar until you compare one drop of each on a piece of construction paper!
• Starch Search (from CCED Celebrating Chemistry 2017)
  Starch is found in regular paper, but not in the paper used to make currency. Use a special marking pen to see the difference between real money and counterfeit money, and find starch in common household foods.
• Molecular Origami
  Inspired by this year's Celebrating Chemistry molecular origami activity? Find more molecular origami activities. Originally developed by Professor Bob Hansen at St. Olaf College, in Northfield, MN.
• Color Lather Printing
  Combine paper, shaving cream, and food coloring to create a unique piece of marbled art.
• Articles
  • Paper Chemistry in the Digital Age
    This article from ACS undergraduate student member magazine inChemistry reveals the chemistry behind this versatile material.
  • National Historic Chemical Landmark - Charles Herty and the Savannah Pulp and Paper Laboratory
    Learn more about the history of Charles Herty, who was influential in papermaking with his idea that Southern pines could be grown as crops and made into excellent white paper.
  • Rewritable Material Could Help Reduce Paper Waste
    Read about a rewritable paper that can help reduce excess waste.
  • Art of paper-cutting inspires Self-Charging Paper Device
    Discover the self-charging paper device that was inspired by Chinese and Japanese arts of paper-cutting
• Molecule of the Week
  • Cellulose
    
  • Lignin
    

Webinar

• Is Paper and Pulp Recycling the Solution to Our Single Use Package Problem?
  Join ACS Webinars for a special CCEW-themed free interactive broadcast and learn about the potential of paper and pulp recycling as the renewable, biodegradable, and environmentally compatible solution that society desires.

Videos