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6 Journal of Chemical Education
_Vol. 88 No. 1 January 2011
_pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
_r2010 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
10.1021/ed101038q Published on Web 11/04/2010
Chemical Education Today
The International Year of Chemistry 2011;ThisIs Your Year!Terri M. TaylorOffice of K-12 Education, Education Division, American Chemical Society, Washington,DC 20036, United [email protected]
In 2005, the world joined the physics community in recog-nizing the International Year of Physics; in 2009, astronomersshared their discipline globally through the International Year ofAstronomy. The year 2011 marks the beginning of the Inter-national Year of Chemistry;365 consecutive days during whichchemists and chemical enthusiasts worldwide will join to promoteinterest in and excitement about chemistry and its contributionsto humankind. Will you join the celebration?
The Global Celebration of the International Year ofChemistry 2011
The International Year of Chemistry 2011 (IYC 2011) is aUnited Nations-designated event, the result of a resolution sub-mitted by Ethiopia that was passed on December 30, 2008. Thishistoric, yearlong celebration is designed to bring positive attentionto the achievements of chemistry and the many ways in whichit has improved people's lives. A worldwide event, IYC 2011 iscoordinated by the International Union of Pure and AppliedChemistry (IUPAC) (1) and the United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (2).
The theme for the global IYC 2011 celebration, as establishedby the IYC 2011 Managing Committee, is Chemistry;our life,our future. The following objectives have also been established tosupport unified efforts during 2011 (2):
• Increase the public appreciation and understanding of chemistryin meeting world needs
• Encourage the interest of young people in chemistry• Generate enthusiasm for the creative future of chemistry• Celebrate the role of women in chemistry or major historicalevents in chemistry, including the centenaries of Marie Curie'sNobel Prize in Chemistry and the founding of the InternationalAssociation of Chemical Societies
The global IYC 2011 celebrations have been designed tomeet the needs and interests of a very broad audience. As a result,activities for a wide range of interests and audiences have beenplanned. Information about the global celebration of IYC 2011 canbe found at Chemistry2011.org (3), the Web site created andmaintained by IUPACwith guidance and sponsorship ofUNESCO.The logo for IYC 2011 in Figure 1 is being used to identify myriadlocal, international, and virtual events, activities, and partnerships.
Among the global IYC 2011 activities are a series of experi-ments for students in grades K-12 focusing on an explorationof the properties of the water and aqueous solutions in theircommunities. These activities are designed to highlight the rolethat chemistry plays in issues of water quality and purification.ParticipatingK-12 classroomswill be asked to report their results to
a common database to facilitate sharing, comparing, and analyz-ing data worldwide. Further information on the global waterexperiment can be found at the IYC 2011 Web site (3).
Celebrate IYC 2011 with the American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society (ACS) will launch a yearfull of activities and resources designed to engage volunteers, students,and the general public. These materials will be linked to fourquarterly themes:
• Water in the environment (Quarter 1)• Alternative energy (Quarter 2)• Materials (Quarter 3)• Health (Quarter 4)
A new issue of Celebrating Chemistry, a publication forstudents in grades 4-6, will be produced and disseminated foreach quarter and will align with the quarter's theme. Each editionof Celebrating Chemistry will contain three to four articles, threehands-on activities, two puzzles or games, and one Meg A. Moleinterview featuring chemists talking about their careers. Nationalunifying events will coincide with Chemists Celebrate Earth Day2011 (April 22, 2011) andNationalChemistryWeek2011 (October17-23, 2011). Illustrated poster contests for K-12 students will alsobe held in conjunction with these engagement events.
Figure 1. The International Year of Chemistry 2011 logo identifies manyexciting events and engaging activities throughout the year and around theworld related to chemistry. Visit http://www.chemistry2011.org/ (accessedOct 2010) to find out more.
r2010 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
_pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
_Vol. 88 No. 1 January 2011
_Journal of Chemical Education 7
Chemical Education Today
Toolkits with ideas and templates for planning additionalactivities to engage various communities are also available. Visithttp://www.acs.org/iyc2011 (accessedOct 2010) formore infor-mation on these exciting resources for planning your IYC 2011celebration.
A variety of mechanisms for communicating chemistry andIYC 2011 will be available. Visit 365: Chemistry for Life, an ACSWeb site that will be launched online on January 1, 2011 (4).This Web-based initiative is designed to highlight a differenttopic (person, place, molecule, element, etc.) each day duringIYC 2011. TheACSNetwork and publications such asChemicaland Engineering News, various ACS journals, ACS Matters,inChemistry, and ChemMatters magazine will also be used toshare news about IYC 2011. A monthly newsletter, the IYCBulletin, is currently available to provide the most current infor-mation about its IYC 2011 activities and resources. Send ane-mail message to [email protected] to subscribe.
IYC 2011 will be highlighted at the ACS national meetingsin Anaheim andDenver, as well as through a number of the ACSregional meetings occurring throughout 2011. Additionally,ACS;in collaboration with the Chemical Heritage Foundation,the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the American
Chemistry Council, and the National Academies of Science;will participate in a multiday IYC 2011 celebration duringFebruary 2011 in Philadelphia, PA.
As the celebrations of IYC 2011 continue, stay tuned foreven more IYC-related resources. Please visit http://www.acs.org/iyc2011 (accessed Oct 2010) or e-mail [email protected] formore information.
Literature Cited
1. IUPAC Home Page. http://www.iupac.org/ (accessed Oct 2010).2. UNESCO. http://portal.unesco.org/science/en/ev.php-URL_ID=
8964&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html(accessed Oct 2010).
3. Home Page of Chemistry2011.org. http://www.chemistry2011.org/(accessed Oct 2010).
4. ACS IYC 2011 Web page. http://www.acs.org/iyc2011 (accessedOct 2010).
Terri Taylor is the assistant director of the Office of K-12Education, Education Division, American Chemical Society,Washington, DC 20036; [email protected].