ASD Libraries: NGSS Chemistry: Materials Research Project

Assignment Information

Molecular Level Structure of Designed Materials

Performance Expectation: Communicate scientific and technical information about why the molecular-level structure is important in the functioning of designed materials.

Challenge: Are these sources reliable?

Check the quality of scientific journals

Beall's List
This is a list of predatory publishers. If the site or journal you are searching for is on this list, it is probably not a reliable source.
Retraction Watch
Keep updated on scientific articles that have been retracted due to bad research.
Resurchify
Ranks the impact of journals
Scimago

Recommended Databases

A to Z Databases
This link will take you to all of the databases that the ASD libraries subscribe to. For login information, see the secure document below.
ASD Databases Login Information
You must be signed in to your ASD account to view these passwords.

Britannica School This link opens in a new window
Britannica School is a general encyclopedia that's useful for all subjects. Choose your level: elementary, middle, or high.
Credo Source This link opens in a new window
Credo Source is a one-stop research platform combining citable reference content with instructional videos and tutorials, as well as access to other subscription databases. Credo Source is a great starting point for research.
Proquest This link opens in a new window
A large, multi-subject database. Citations export directly into Noodletools.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources. Citations export directly to Noodletools.

Science Open
This open-access database is a great place to research. Once you do a basic search, use the "narrow by discipline" feature on the side to get closer to your topic.

Useful Websites for Chemistry

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Database
Sponsored by the US government. Use the Advanced Search to choose Chemistry as your topic area.
NIST Physical Measurement Laboratory
The Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML) develops and disseminates the national standards of: length, mass, force and shock, acceleration,time and frequency, electricity, temperature, humidity, pressure and vacuum,
liquid and gas flow, and electromagnetic, optical, microwave, acoustic, ultrasonic, and ionizing radiation.
Royal Society of Chemistry
PubChem
"Quickly find chemical information from authoritative sources."
ChemSpider
"ChemSpider is a free chemical structure database providing fast text and structure search access to over 67 million structures from hundreds of data sources."
Chemistry Views
"ChemistryViews is the online science news magazine of Chemistry Europe, an organization of 16 European chemical societies. It informs about what is happening in the global chemistry community and has a strong focus on the people behind the science."
NIST Chemistry WebBook
NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology)- provides thermochemical, thermophysical, and ion energetics data compiled by NIST under the Standard Reference Data Program.
The Merck Index Online
or over 120 years The Merck Index has been regarded as the most authoritative and reliable source of information on chemicals, drugs and biologicals.
The Merck Index* Online offers the same highly authoritative information as the print edition in a convenient and easily searchable full text database. It contains over 11,500 monographs – including historic records not available in the print edition. The Merck Index*Online will be updated regularly with accurate information curated by experts.
Wiley Online Library

Explain That Stuff

Explain That Stuff
Explain that Stuff is an online book written by science writer Chris Woodford. It includes over 400 easy-to-understand articles, richly illustrated with over 4000 photos, artworks, and animations, covering how things work, cutting-edge science, cool gadgets, and computers.

General Open-Access Databases

Google Scholar
"Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines."
ResearchGate
"ResearchGate is a European commercial social networking site for scientists and researchers to share papers, ask and answer questions, and find collaborators." Many studies are available free by contacting the authors through ResearchGate.
Core
"The world’s largest collection of open access research papers."
Semantic Scholar
"A free, AI-powered research tool for scientific literature."
Academia.Edu
"Academia is a platform for sharing academic research." Create a free account with Google.
Directory of Open Access Journals
This "database contains over 16 500 peer-reviewed open access journals covering all areas of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, arts and humanities."
Science Open
"ScienceOpen is a freely accessible search and discovery platform that puts research in context."
Scientific Research Publishing
"Scientific Research Publishing (SCIRP) is one of the largest Open Access journal publishers."
Digital Commons Network
"The Digital Commons Network brings together free, full-text scholarly articles from hundreds of universities and colleges worldwide."
Intech Open
"The world's leading publisher of Open Access books."

Books in the ASD Library

Chemistry by Carla Mooney; Samuel Carbaugh (Illustrator)
Call Number: e-Book
ISBN: 9781619303621
Publication Date: 2016-05-16
Have you ever wondered what makes up everything in the world around you? Or what exactly is the difference between solids, liquids, and gases? Have you wanted to know what causes two substances to react or change?
The Elements by Tom Jackson
Call Number: 546 JAC
ISBN: 9780985323035
Publication Date: 2012-10-09

Library Lessons

Topics

Bentonite Cat Litter

Cat Litter Formulation
This is a patent for Cat Litter found using Researchgate.
Bentonite
A collection of articles from Science Direct. If you need help accessing the full text of any of these, please see Ms. Hoiseth
Physical and sensory characteristics of cat litter
From the Journal of Sensory Studies, found using ResearchGate.
Kitty Litter
An article comparing the performance of the different types of commercially available cat litter from the Chemical & Engineering News online magazine.
Bentonite Applications
A few applications of bentonite

Caffeine

Caffeine
From PubChem
Book Chapter: Properties and Analysis of Caffeine and Chlorogenic Acids in Coffee Beans
Extraction of Caffeine
A study published in 2019.
Pharmacology of Caffeine
Shared by the National Library of Medicine

Carbon Monoxide

Oxygen Binding
From Chemistry Libre.texts, an open-access textbooks site.
Hydrogen Bonding
From Chemistry Libre.texts, an open-access textbooks site.
Carbon monoxide poisoning
From DernetNZ.org
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning (animation)
An animation from Annenberg Learner shows how carbon monoxide poisoning gets in the way of the body’s ability to get oxygen.

Diapers/Nappies

The chemistry of disposable nappies: absorbency, wetness indicators and waste
An article and infographic explaining how baby diapers work from Compound Interest, a site that aims to explain the chemistry of everyday things.
Sodium polyacrylate
A podcast from from Chemistry World.

Water wonderful discovery: Thirsty `super slurpers', or polyacrylates, are used in diapers and firefighting
Found using Proquest.

Sodium Polyacrylate
From Flinn Scientific
Diapers: The Inside Story
From the American Chemical Society
The chemistry of disposable nappies: absorbency, wetness indicators and waste
An infographic on the chemicals used in baby diapers.
Sodium poly(acrylate)
This clever chemistry can absorb about 300 times its weight in water. (You might need to register for a free account to access this article.)
The Chemistry of Baby Diapers
This source discusses what chemical in the baby diapers absorbs urine.
Superabsorbent Polymers: An Idea Whose Time Has Come
Log in to Proquest to view this article

Fuels

Different Fuels for Different Purposes (Hydrocarbons)

Twig - Oil Products: Fractional distillation
From the Royal Chemistry Society. A video and accompanying handout explaining how fractional distillation separates crude oil into different useful fuels.
BBC Bitesize - Fuels
This source summarizes the structures of hydrocarbons, how they differ, how they are processed and how they are used.
Everything you need to teach fractional distillation
An infographic poster summarizing the process of fractional distillation and the uses of the products. (You may need to register for a free account to access this.)

Gecko Feet

Nature's Ninjas by Rebecca L. Johnson
Call Number: 591.47 JOH
ISBN: 9781541542419
Publication Date: 2019-10-01
Did you know that some animals have natural ninja-like talents? In this book, you'll learn all about them, including geckos, sea urchins, bombardier beetles, and more.

Being a Gecko is Sticky Business!
From the American Chemical Society
Extreme positive allometry of animal adhesive pads and the size limits of adhesion-based climbing
Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences doi: 10.1073/pnas.1519459113. Found using scienceopen.com.

Scientists stuck on the wonder of geckos' superadhesive feet
Found using Proquest.

Gecko climbs a wall using van der Waals force
Academic study found using ResearchGate.
On the role of the van der Waals interaction in gecko adhesion: A DFT perspective
Found using Science Direct.
Van Der Waals and the Gecko
From NaturPhilosophie.co.uk

Anatomy of a Scientific Article

Anatomy of a Scientific Article

Search for Books

Destiny Library Catalog
Look for library books related to your topic. When you get to the catalog, don't forget to sign in!
Sora
Follow this link or download the SoraApp to access the library's ebook collection. Sign in with Google.

Noodletools

Noodletools This link opens in a new window
NoodleTools is an online research management platform that helps you evaluate information, build accurate citations, archive source material, take notes, outline topics, and prepare to write. Sign in with Google.

Noodletools Help
This guide will answer all of your questions about how to use Noodletools.

Kevlar

Stephanie Kwolek Polymer chemist
An interview with Stephanie Kwolek, the polymer chemist who invented Kevlar. From Catalyst Magazine.

Technical Textiles - Kevlar
A slide deck with many uses of Kevlar and some technical information. Also includes many other links to further sources. Use information from this site to cite it:

https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/elibrary/resource/460754/technical-textiles-kevlar

Characteristics of Carbon and Kevlar Fibres, Their Composites and Structural Applications in Civil Engineering—A Review
Log in to Proquest to read this article. From the journal Polymers
Amide
Log into Britannica to read this article

Plastics

Different Plastics for Different Purposes

Plastic Planet by Georgia Amson-Bradshaw
Call Number: 363.72 AMS
Publication Date: 2022
Because this material is so versatile, it became the default for making just about everything for years. From drink cups to toys, plastic is all around us. But very little plastic is recycled, and that which is recycled is done so improperly...this title takes a step further in understanding how and why we got into trouble in the first place as well as how people might be able to fix it.
The Plastic Problem by Rachel Salt
Call Number: 363.72 SAL
Publication Date: 2019
Discusses the problem that plastic pollution causes, especially in the ocean where massive garbage patches have formed that put marine life at risk, and explores ways it may be reduced.

BBC Bitesize - Polymers
This source summarizes the structures of polymers, how they are made, how they are used and the problems of disposing of them (5 pages plus self-test).
Plastics and polymers
A video and accompanying handout explaining how different plastics are manipulated to have different properties to give them different uses.
(You might need to create a free account to access this.)

Protein Folding (Hair)

Introduction to proteins and protein structure
From Imperial College London. This source shows the different types of folding of proteins and bond linkage in each of them.
Levels of Protein Organization
This source from the University of Vermont shows protein folding.
How do disulphide bonds in hair cause curling?
This source shows structure and bonds found in curly hairs.
The what, why and how of curly hair: a review
From the National Library of Medicine
Effects of IGF-Binding Protein 5 in Dysregulating the Shape of Human Hair
From the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. Found using scienceopen.com.
Hair frizz and the science of molecular attraction
From The Bubbling Biochemist.
The Internal Structure of Hair and its Interpretation by Tensile Strength and DSC Measurements
From The Cosmetic Chemist.

HOW COME? / Curly Hair: Straight From Your Genes
Found using Proquest.

Hair Frizz Science: Water and Hydrogen Bonds
From Lab Muffin Beauty Science, a website that is run by a chemistry PhD graduate and science educator in Sydney, Australia,
Overview of Protein Structural and Functional Folds
This overview provides an illustrated, comprehensive survey of some commonly observed protein‐fold families and structural motifs, chosen for their functional significance.

Soaps and Detergents

How to Make a Universe with 92 Ingredients by Adrian Dingle
Call Number: 546 DIN
ISBN: 9781771470087
Publication Date: 2013
Look at page 68.

Soapy Science
From University of York.
Supermolecules
An explanation of how soap and water react against from University of York.

The video above is from the BYJU's website and here is the matching article. This is normally a fee-based educational site but you will still be able to access this article.

The Chemistry of Cleaning
From the American Cleaning Institute
Soap (Exemplar)
From Chemistry Libre.texts, an open-access textbook site.
THE SCIENCE OF SOAPS AND DETERGENTS
This source shows the structures and explains the cleansing mechanism of soap and detergents.

The Science of Soaps and Detergents
PDF version of above site.

Teflon / Gore Tex

The Scientific Magic of Teflon
This site from the Weizmann Institute of Science discusses how teflon acts as a non-sticky surface. "Why does nothing stick to Teflon? And how is it applied to pots and pans nonetheless?"
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) - Britannica School
This source shows the chemical formula, structure and some properties. Log in using the username asdubai and the usual password. The ASD school subscription to Britannica will give you a properly formatted APA citation.
Chemistry History: Teflon & Non-Stick Pans
This source shows the structure and explains how teflon repels water and acts as an inert substance.

Explain That Stuff

Explain That Stuff
Explain that Stuff is an online book written by science writer Chris Woodford. It includes over 400 easy-to-understand articles, richly illustrated with over 4000 photos, artworks, and animations, covering how things work, cutting-edge science, cool gadgets, and computers.

Creative Commons License

This guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.

Libguide Creators

Contact us if you have suggestions for or questions about this guide!

Linda Hoiseth

High School Librarian

lhoiseth@asdubai.org

Twitter: @lhoiseth

Sana Daher

MS/HS Library Instructional Assistant

sdaher@asdubai.org