Does inspiration for exams continue?

Not today..... BUT.... I am not beyond trying to blackmail my students with exam fodder to increase my blog's traffic; especially because when I didn't remind them of the link......... the traffic dropped off..... sigh. C'est la vie, I am not a populist.

Speaking of traffic, many years ago now (over ten!) I was excited to teach my students about the invention of self-healing asphalt. Why have we never employed it here in Calgary? The liquid nitrogen they used to help fracture the asphalt at times certainly seems representative of the cold weather that Calgary has. We are so behind the other countries that exploit this tech. I rant about this in response to my drive down Crowchild being spoiled by the traffic jams that occur where asphalt is being scraped off and then re-laid instead of just "ironed". I wonder how many other inventions/ideas like self-healing asphalt, that have great promise, never really take off? Hmmmm very similar to introducing students to the pedagogy of learning.

Speaking of asphalt, take a look at this pic I took during my walk into work (like my artistic twist?; the two accent leaves in the picture)....rings of sugars float before my eyes.....

how amazing that my brain sees the connection even though there is significant manipulation......

.........of the visual that a chemist like myself usually works with.

The picture could have represented many of the disaccharides that exist but the one I used above, Gentiobiose, seemed to me most interesting. It is composed of two units of D-glucose joined with a β(1->6) linkage. Yada yada yada...... It is a white crystalline solid that is soluble in water or hot methanol.....HEY MAYBE I LIED AT THE START OF THIS BLOG.....this would be a good question for an in-class discussion or an exam, which requires students to demonstrate their understanding of intermolecular interactions. Gentiobiose is also incorporated into the chemical structure of crocin, the chemical compound that gives saffron its colour. I wonder if students can see the visual above in the structure of crocin as it is represented so differently...

I LOVE SAFFRON RICE......not just for its colour but its taste. The composition of Saffron is much more complex than crocin. Apparently it is made up of more than 150 compounds! In fact, if I were offered the chance to live my life over, I might work in the area of food science (CLICK ON GRAPHIC TO GO TO ARTICLE). The challenge of trying to mimic such complex mixtures, in a healthy way, fascinates me.

Finally, to end this blog. TED talks often enlighten me as to how the world thinks much more differently than I do or "my world" does. The latest I watched was an interview with the CEO of TikTok. I have lots of students I know that watch TikToks, so this intrigued me. The creator of TikTok says it is a "window to discover, that provides a canvas to create and bridges to connect". He noted that to "use" TikTok successfully, one needs talent. That it reaches all people, not just those that are "learned,"............ but I ask: what does he mean by talent? Apparently, algorithms define talent... i.e. the talent is providing what people like. What was also interesting to me was the comment by the interviewer that TikTok is a form of collaborative thought. I do like that idea. The collaboration of behaviour of watching, liking and sharing. Now wouldn't that be amazing if I could make that happen in a class of 400+. I was particularly gratified to hear that STEM content on TikTok has 116 billion cumulative views.... WOW....... and I didn't even mind Chemical Kim. They provide even more exam fodder.