[Nfb-science] New Chemistry Book Available

[Michael Whapples]

Some of that brings back of memories of when I was at school doing 
chemistry. Firstly as a note the school was RNIB New College Worcester, UK, 
which is a specialist school for the blind.

I don't think I every was lighting the bunson burner, but I did use them. 
Yes you can hear what the flame is like by the sound, but I remember you 
could also get an idea by feeling the size of the hole where the air was 
taken in.

We had a similar set for representing the molecules, but I don't think the 
linking pieces were springs, they were flexible plastic rods. The different 
balls had different number of holes to show how many bonds it would normally 
make, and I think were different sizes. This kit I think is called molymods.

There's probably plenty more I could mention, but just knowing where to 
start is the problem.

From
Michael Whapples
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Donahue" <pdonahue1 at sbcglobal.net>
To: "NFB Science and Engineering Division List" <nfb-science at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2007 11:45 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfb-science] New Chemistry Book Available


> Hello Cary and listers,
>
>    Do you know if audio or video recordings of these presentations will be
> made during the convention, and available to download or to purchass
> afterwards?If you asked me this is prime content for the NFB or the NCBYS
> Web Sites.
>
> I took a Survey of Chemistry Course at Massasoit Community College when I
> lived in Massachusetts. I need to give my instructor lots of credit for
> ensuring that I was included in all class and lab activities right down to
> lighting the Bunsen Burners. We had strikers that one held in the hand and
> squeezed causing a spark to be created. If you held the striker over the
> burner and the gas was on it lit. I would locate the mouth of the burner
> with the striker. When I found it I squeezed and when I heard the flame
> roaring I knew the burner was lit. I could use the volume of the sound to
> regulate the height of the flame.
>
>    He pared us up in teams. More often than not I was the notetaker for 
> our
> group though I did participate in most of the experiments. When the 
> semester
> was over we had made aspirin, soap, and nylon. If you knew what went in to
> making aspirin you'd wonder how it ever became a medicine.
>
>    This instructor had a kit for constructing molecules. It was a
> collection of different colored balls and springs one could connect 
> together
> to represent different molecular structures including different types of
> chemical bonds, and optical isomers to name a few. Obviously we were
> studying Organic Chemistry when he began using this kit. If the balls in
> this kit had different textures and colors structures such as optical
> isomers could be represented for a totally blind person. I wish I knew the
> name of the company that produced that kit. If I find it I'll forward it 
> to
> Mark to include in the NCBYS Portal. And all of this happened during the
> late 1970s. Even back then there were those individuals such as my 
> Chemistry
> instructor who believed that there could be a future for the blind in STEM
> Fields.
>
> Peter Donahue
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Cary Supalo" <cas380 at psu.edu>
> To: <nfb-science at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2007 6:00 PM
> Subject: [Nfb-science] New Chemistry Book Available
>
>
> Here is something I received from a friend who wanted me to promote
> this new accessible chemistry book. There will be several
> presentations on this topic at the National Convention. Please feel
> free to forward this to anyone who you think might be interested.
> Cary Supalo
> Chemistry in the Community, New Digital Talking Book
>
> In collaboration with gh, LLC, (an assistive technology company) the
> American Chemical Society has converted its high school chemistry
> textbook Chemistry in the Community into a digital talking book (DTB)
> format. This will be the first digital talking chemistry textbook on
> the market and is designed to help students who are blind or visual
> impaired study chemistry along with their sighted peers.  Chemistry
> in the Community, DTB will also be a powerful tool for students who
> have reading difficulties or for whom English is a second language.
>
> Converting a high school chemistry textbook into a DTB presented
> interesting  challenges for ACS Education Division and gh staff, as
> chemistry textbooks contain unique features which must be accurately
> represented in the digital reading of the text.   For example, the
> pictorial nature of a chemistry textbook (illustrations, figures,
> tables, graphs, molecular models, formulas and equations) makes the
> use of a "text only" access method ineffective.  In order to make a
> chemistry text actually usable, the essential graphics need to be
> communicated so they can be understood by a student who is blind or
> visually impaired.
>
> A careful review of the initial drafts of the product revealed the
> nuances of reading dimensional analysis, stock method naming, ionic
> charges, and catalyzed reactions.  These items were addressed along
> with the other graphic elements to create a product that is now ready
> for field tests.
>
> ACS is currently looking for interested teachers and students to help
> with this phase of the project.  Teachers of blind and visual
> impaired students will be asked to use the DTB in their classrooms
> during the spring and early summer and to provide valuable input on
> the usability and effectiveness of the product.  Student input
> regarding usability will also be solicited. The final digital talking
> book is expected to be released in the fall following the completion
> of the field tests. If you are interested in field testing this
> exciting new product please contact chemcom at acs.org.
>
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