Teachers Selected for Chemistry Workshop

Four San Fernando Valley high school teachers are among 20 educators from nine states selected to participate this week in an Occidental College workshop on teaching the daily life applications of chemistry.

The workshop, sponsored by the American Chemical Society, helps science teachers develop an instructional plan for high school students who will probably not study science in college. The course material and the laboratory activities emphasize how chemistry can play a part in the experiences of the average person.

For example, the teachers may have students take water samples from their house and test it for lead. Instructors also may talk about the health hazards of pesticides that can show up in food.

“In the newspaper, we are reading about toxic waste, environmental hazards, ozone layers, pollution of the bay,” said Frances B. Hill, media director of Occidental College. “(The program) empowers the teacher to pass on base knowledge to students and hopefully interest them in keeping current with issues.”

Teachers who received fellowships to attend the workshop include Kate Smirnoff and Richard Buck, Louisville High School, Woodland Hills; Sandra Rallis Comouche, Notre Dame High School, Sherman Oaks, and Emily Smith of Burroughs High School in Burbank.