Chemistry of How Things Work
Decisions - Good and Bad
That Bring Chemistry into our lives
What is ChemCases?
Twelve case studies of chemistry in the products we use and the situations we meet. ChemCases.com helps you evaluate the decisions behind these products and situations.
ChemCases.com shows how the chemistry of food relieves our hunger, the chemistry of water and Gatorade and soft drinks and beer and wine takes the edge off our thirst.
It shows how our drugs and medications work by chemical reactions; it is the chemistry of fuels that powers what we drive and fly; it is chemistry that gives electricity from nuclear and more traditional power sources; chemical synthesis provides our plastics.
And it is the complexities of chemistry that converts useful materials into pollutants, makes some users of alcohol into abusers and addicts some of us to innocent looking but destructive white powders.
Application
ChemCases.com lets you learn chemistry and enjoy doing it by applying the same chemical principles that the inventors used develop the products you use. And you can join with other learners to debate the fundamental issues that confront these scientists as they make responsible decisions about what they do.
Each ChemCases.com unit offers you a 50-minute lesson relating chemistry to responsible decision making in our new century.
Chemistry Students or Educators: Each ChemCases.com unit offers you a 50-minute lesson relating chemistry to responsible decision making in our new century. The cases provide capsules of knowledge that challenge and entertain. You can also dig deeper into the complete unit and find in-depth evaluation of the role chemistry plays in complex modern life. Students and educators come to chemistry with an enormous diversity. What if the curriculum linked to many of their common experiences? Wouldn't it become easier to make an impact, to have active learning, by showing how chemistry affects the mainstream of our lives? These ChemCases.com units are freely available for your use. |
BulletinsBULLETIN: June 22, 2005 Cisplatin and Lung Cancer: Cisplatin chemotherapy now recognized for dramatic lengthening of survival for some common types of lung cancer. Read tour cisplatin unit for a description of cisplatin science |
 Chemcases.com is a National Science Foundation supported curriculum development project |
ScientificAmerican.com has selected Chemistry of How Things Work as a WINNER of the 2004 Sci/Tech Web Awards.
Principal Investigator Laurence Peterson
Project Director Matthew Hermes
