9354452 Meinwald There is a need to increase the scientific literacy of college students in the USA. This proposal involves the development of a new introductory course, The Language of Chemistry, intended primarily for students who are not committed to a major in chemistry. The immediate challenge is to provide an attractive course which students from areas such as the social sciences and the humanities will elect to help fulfill a "distribution" requirement. The proposed course will illustrate how chemists study problems involving chemical interactions in nature. Among the cases likely to be included for study are (1) the chemistry of gamete attractants; (2) the female pheromone of the silkworm moth; (3) quinine, antimalarials, and synthetic dyes; (4) penicillin; and (5) taxol. Basic concepts in general chemistry and organic chemistry will be developed as they are required for the understanding of this set of particularly interesting problems at the interface between chemistry and biology or medicine. The methods of analyzing problems will be emphasized, rather than the memorization of specific results or formulas. Students should gain an understanding of subjects as diverse as: chromatography and other purification techniques, spectroscopy, molecular formulas, molecular structures (and how chemical and physical methods establish them), stereochemistry, atomic structure, the periodic table, chemical bonding, functional groups, Avogadro's number, and why synthesis is important. There will be an opportunity for students, working in small groups, to prepare and present short reports on chemical topics, based on library research. The project will work with colleagues in the science education department on course development and evaluation. Course related materials will also be generated. ***y
