Integrating art into the chemistry curriculum

By Michael Seery2014-08-21T22:23:00

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A range of possibilities for integrating art into the chemistry curriculum by means of context based learning

Chemistry World devoted a recent issue to the theme of chemistry and art and a particular favourite among the range of great articles was Philip Ball’s The colourful science. This story outlines the chemist’s role in developing the increasing range of colours available to artists, and also how some of the earliest chemistry was done for art’s sake. One of the interesting points was how chemistry as a science began to develop: when it was realised that the white pigment lead white was poisonous, early chemists began the search for an alternative (and came up with zinc oxide). It’s worth chasing this article up with Neil Withers' podcast on vermilion.

All of this strikes me as some very rich context to teach chemistry.

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