THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 24, 1996 TAG: 9610240312
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 79 lines
So, you thought a mole was just a furry little creature that wreaked havoc tunneling through your lawn? Well, there's ``mole'' here than meets the eye.
Just ask chemistry students at Norview High School.
On Wednesday, they celebrated National ``Molemorial'' Day, in honor of Italian scientist Amedeo Avogadro. While obscure to most people, Avogadro made a major contribution to society. His work in the 19th century led to the discovery of another kind of mole: A number that enables scientists to measure the molecular weight of the tiniest particles.
One mole of any substance is defined by a numerical formula - 6.02257 X 1023; that's 10 multiplied by itself 23 times. It's a huge number of molecules. For example, 1012 is a trillion.
That's enough to ``immolebilize'' the brain of ordinary mortals.
But teachers at Norview High, named last year to Redbook Magazine's best-in-the-nation list for innovative teaching, transformed the concept into an experience that provoked laughter and thought.
Students greeted each other with a bright, ``Happy Mole Day!'' They ate ``molelasses'' cookies some baked at home, ran a 6.02-meter ``moleathon'' down the hall, told corny mole jokes and conducted a lab experiment to learn how scientists use the mole in real life.
They also sculpted the other kind of mole - a burrowing, insect-eating mammal - out of 27 grams of aluminum foil, equal to one mole of aluminum.
``It's extraordinary if you think about it - you know exactly how many atoms (of aluminum) you have in your hand,'' said chemistry teacher Joe Steinberg, who wore a name tag identifying himself as ``Dr. Moleberg.''
``The beauty of the mole,'' he added, ``is that you can count atoms simply by massing a given amount of substance.''
Such an enthusiastic endorsement proved contagious.
Junior DeBorah Hines came to class with several jokes she'd made up with help from her mom and sister the night before, including this one: ``What's the mole's favorite dance?'' Give up? ``The molecarena.''
Junior Freeman Johnson had another: ``Where do moles go to live when they retire? Molebile units.''
``I think it's easier to learn when you're having fun, because you learn better. You usually remember it,'' said junior Winter Liverman, who wrote a Mole Day poem.
While students weighed grams of beans and popcorn for the mole lab, junior Monique Roberts said, ``I knew a mole was an animal, but not a counting number. I was like, `A what?' It's something new to learn, and there's nothing wrong with that.''
``The mole is fantastic,'' added junior Derik Mayes. ``We need more Mole Days like this.''
Norview joined schools across Hampton Roads and the country in recognizing Mole Day, an annual event since a Wisconsin high school science teacher started the National Mole Day Foundation in 1991. Its purpose is to get people, especially students, enthused about chemistry.
The mole is drawn from Avogadro's Law, which says, essentially, that equal volumes of all gases, if placed under the same conditions of temperature and pressure, contain the same number of molecules.
Researchers in industry and science labs deal with moles daily to gauge the molecular mass of substances while developing products ranging from pharmaceuticals to household ammonia.
Norview High teachers used Wednesday's entertaining assignments as a way to ease into a complex formula that many students will face again in college, especially if they pursue careers in science.
``It's like a building block,'' chemistry teacher Deena Johnson said. ``If they can grasp that concept we can build on it the entire year. So many kids come in thinking chemistry is boring and stressful, and we just want to give them something to appreciate it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color TAMARA VONINSKI photo/The Virginian-Pilot
Lyn Narciso, 16, left, and Nakeylla Simons, 16, watch Mike Mayer,
16, and his science team create a mole out of aluminum foil after
measuring out a mole of foil on the scale.
Graphic
Source: Bob Everson Purdue University
How Many is a Mole
[For complete copy, see microfilm]
KEYWORDS: MOLES by CNB