POPULARIZATION OF CHEMISTRY

A Series of Chemistry Popularization 

Sponsor(s): Association of Chemistry Teachers c/o Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Mumbai

For Indian Middle, High and Secondary level school students and Teachers. Organizations of chemistry popularization workshops by quizzing the students of Indian school of class 7th to class 12th and Teachers. In India we propose to conduct 10 such workshops during IYC - 2011

Introduction; Among all the scientific disciplines chemistry seems to be particularly worried about its public image. Indeed, popular associations with chemistry range from poisons, fire hazards, chemical warfare, and environmental pollution to alchemical pseudoscience, sorcery, and mad scientists. Despite repeated campaigns for convincing the public that chemistry would bring health, comfort, and welfare, chemists frequently meet with hostility in popular culture. As student enrollment numbers has been shrinking, chemistry departments have been closed in several countries. Also in humanist culture chemistry has a very low profile; philosophers in particular keep to their traditional neglect of anything related to chemistry. More recently, in response to their public image, chemists have tried to launch slogans such as ‘green chemistry’ or even dropped the term ‘chemistry’ altogether and adopted more fashionable labels such as ‘materials science’, ‘molecular science’, or ‘nanotechnology’. Chemistry is both the most useful and the most fundamental of all sciences. Moreover, chemistry is taught in such a manner that instead of developing interest in the subject, students start fearing it. Consequently the most talented students do not appreciate the importance and relevance of chemistry.

In the light of these difficulties we have envisaged a program to initiate  chemistry popularization among Indian students and  science/ chemistry teachers.