Humour

Off the Mark

December's cartoon

(This is reprinted from the December 2005 issue of Chem 13 News. Previously it was called Rosengarten’s garden.) Author: Mark Rosengarten, Washington High School, Washingtonville, New York

Aluminum and Copper cartoon

Chemically-dependent cartoon Author: Richard M Furlough

Celebrating relationship humour from the 2000s

We decided to dig out some of Richard Furlough’s cartoons from the 2000s. We selected these dating and relationship chemical cartoons with Valentine’s Day in mind.

Christmas carols

“Deck the Labs” was printed in a 1980 December issue of Chem 13 News from George R. Hague, when he was at Hackensack High School, Hackensack, NJ. After 38 years this carol is still being sung.

Precipitation caper

A cartoon of three test tubes in a suspect line-up. Another test tube is a witness (NaCl) and he identifies test tube with lead(II) nitrate as the one precipitating the whole thing.

Dimethyl chicken wire

Fun cartoon from the 1960s

High school chemistry in 1916

This excerpt is taken from an article called “The content method and results of the high school course in chemistry”. The article was published in July 1916 in The Chemical News and the Journal of Physical Science and was written by Alexander Smith, Columbia University, New York City.

New IUPAC rules make molecular names more pronounceable, friendlier

[Taken from a blog on the Master Organic Chemistry website. This site makes organic chemistry accessible and clear. Tell students about this resource if they are planning on taking organic chemistry in university. There are some amazing cheat sheets, including ones on acid/base chemistry — there are also a few free “cheat sheets” for you to check out. ]

Santa and chemistry sets

How does Santa feel about chemistry sets?

Santa parent cartoon

Cute little Christmas cartoon but you have to know your elements...

Science fair

A cute twist on science fairs...

Your own peril

Would you put your head down?

Fascinating chemistry

Creative chemistry...

Too familiar with safety rules

Can safety be too familar?

Name this compound for Easter

Can you name this Easter compound?

Cheeky “W” in September 2016

In the September issue we asked readers to find our “egg-on-the-face” cover mistake, a cheeky “W”, and then share a story of a mistake made while teaching. We had some great replies.

Goldilocks and thermodynamics

Goldilocks and chemistry

#clickbait syllabus

If you spend any time on social media sites or anywhere on the internet, you will have encountered “click bait”. Click bait is the internet slang term for online media or news content with sensationalist headlines. The CBC radio show “As it happens” did a short interview with Laura Seay, a Texas assistant professor who hit on an idea: “what if she wrote her syllabus in the style of click-bait internet headlines?” Her #clickbaitsyllabus went viral.

Crossing the Rubicon

If you’re a history buff...

Comparing the SN1 and SN2 Reactions

Cat teaching organic chemistry reactions...

Deep thoughts

On April 12, 2016, Brandie Freeman, Woodland High School in Cartersville, Georgia tweeted this interesting thought.

Making an ICE table

Prashanth Velayudhan, 2nd year Medicinal Chemistry student at the University of Waterloo submitted this cartoon.

Spooky chemistry cookies

Spooky and yummy periodic table

Boil Slaw cartoon

Chemically-dependent by Richard M. Furlough

Caution: wet floor

On 1st of April each year, Angela Swartz, Waterloo-Oxford Secondary School, Waterloo, Ontario spills some water on the floor for her students to find. Always being a careful chemistry teacher, she also includes a caution sign so the students know the floor is wet.

Significant digit cartoon

The cartoon was taken with permission from www.lefthandedtoons.com. The cartoons are drawn with the left-hand although both website cartoonists are right-handed. There are over 1,500 different cartoons at this website.

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas

This reprint is from the front cover of Chem 13 News, December 1995. This clever poem came to us from Fiona Walker of North Vancouver BC, via Tony Anderson, our colleague in the Physics Department at UW.

Sardonic Salad cartoon

This great little cartoon is courtesy of Sardonic Salad.

Periodic table of horrors

You can download this nifty Halloween version of the periodic table by cartoonist Adam Koford (@ApeLad). A free high-resolution image is available on Flickr for your classroom.

O Little Endpoint I Did Miss

O little endpoint I did miss despite my intention. It was with great excitement I began my titration. But now it’s all messed up the analyte’s hot pink. The stopcock leaked by half a drop and now I’m on the brink.

Best “Rate my professor” comment

We found this comment on “Rate My Professor” website written by a student about a chemistry professor we know — we will not mention anyone’s name — but we had to share since it was good advice for all those taking chemistry. It made us smile.

Songs with an elemental twist

Write these two messages out for your students and ask them what they mean...

Cold moles on Mole Day cartoon

Looking for some Mole Day humour...

Joy of Tech Cartoon

Geek mediation session...

Dogs teaching chemistry

I am a chemist by profession and I have been making YouTube videos of my dogs as long as I've had them in my life. Some videos have become more popular than others, but nothing to the extent of our chemistry video.

Timely science humour

A Higgs boson walks into a [Catholic] church and the priest says...

Ode to Mendeleev

A man named Mendeleev, Dimitri Set his mind to work so completely, He invented a table With which he was able To organize elements neatly.

A chemistry poem

The initial response of the Fourth Form Chemistry Group (14/15-year-olds) to the prospect of writing a chemistry poem for homework was one of bemused horror and disbelief.

Erlenmeyer flask snow hat

Have you ever been sitting in lab, waiting for your solution to dissolve, and thought to yourself: I wish there was something that simultaneously kept my head warm, as well as expressed my devotion to scientific research and wet chemistry?