Processed foods use inorganic compounds for flavoring and preservation. This take-home laboratory challenges scholars to find 20 different compounds identified on the labels of foods to list on their data collection sheet. The activity...

Host an exciting lab in which learners burn fruit rinds to better understand hydrocarbons. A reading passage and analysis questions wrap up the lesson. 

Seventy percent of the air pollution in China is due to car exhaust. Under the umbrella of environmental chemistry, learners extensively explore air pollution. From the makeup of our atmosphere to sources of major air pollutants, classes...

In this first land plants worksheet, students read about the major events that allowed plants to evolve on Earth. Students read about the primary and secondary atmospheres, the formation of the ozone layer to protect from UV light and...

Carbon, the base for all organic compounds, exists in nature in its purest form as graphite or diamonds. The 25th lesson in a series of 36 teaches pupils the nomenclature of organic compounds. Learners read about how to use the IUPAC...

High schoolers test wood splints that have been soaked in mystery solutions to identify the different colors it produces when lit. The lesson concludes with a reading passage and analysis questions.

From the start of the Industrial Revolution, it only took 147 years for someone to invent plastic. This may seem like a long time, but in the history of inventing or discovering new materials, this is incredibly fast. An informative and...

Learn about chemists who specialize in food chemistry- the study of chemical processes and interactions in our foods.

Read about carbohydrates, which make up one of the three "Major classes of macronutrients that are essential to living organisms." In addition to defining several terms, including carbohydrate, simple sugars, complex carbohydrates,...

Gives examples of chemical interactions occurring in the human body, in the world around us, in foods, and in products we use.

Lloyd Hall was a pioneer in the field of food chemistry, preservation, and sterilization.

Inventor Lloyd Augustus Hall is featured in this brief biography who made several contributions to the food and drug industry such as his patented method for curing meats so they would keep better.

Discusses four artificial sweeteners that have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These include saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame K, and sucralose.

Instructions for experiments to see whether cooking green beans in salted water improves their taste, texture, or color.

With an overview of topics related to chemical energetics, this site provides a foundation to a study of thermodynamics and its relation to enthalpy. Topics covered include bond enthalpies and bond energies, energy content of fuels,...

An explanation of how in the deep sea, where the sun's rays never reach, organisms make food from chemicals, a process called chemosynthesis.

Provides some common examples of chemical reactions, e.g., in respiration, rusting, and photosynthesis.

Learn how vitamin D is structured, synthesized and metabolized in the human body. Includes information on the health benefits of vitamin D and the effects of vitamin D deficiency.