In a previous entry on fall activities, I forgot to include Mole Day, celebrated on October 23 (10/23) from 6:02 a.m. to 6:02 p.m. The timing of this event celebrates Avogadro’s number — 6.02 * 10^23
For more information on the concept of a “mole” (in a chemical context, not the mammal!), login to SciLinks, and enter “Avogadro” into the keyword search. You’ll get a list of websites related to moles and to the work of this scientist.
This day is used to celebrate the science of chemistry and its applications. The National Mole Day Foundation’s website has background information, themes, and some suggested activities. The American Chemical Society has embedded Mole Day in its National Chemistry Week events. The ACS site has many resources for students and teachers of all grade levels.
Rather than competing with the commercial hoopla around Halloween, perhaps we science teachers could do our own special celebrations that relate to science concepts! I’ve also heard of teachers who reverse the numbers and celebrate their mole day on June 2 (6/02) at 10:23 a.m. This could be a neat end of the year wrap-up!
According to several sources, this event was inspired by an article in NSTA’s The Science Teacher from the 1980s, but these sources do not mention the title of the article. Unfortunately, the online archives for this journal do not go back that far to get the original article, and I’ve recycled my journal copies from the 80s and 90s. Does anyone have the title and author of the article?