Learning Chemistry Language Early with The Adventures of Allison and Friends 

“Educa6on has very li9le to do with explana6on; it has to do with engagement, falling in love with the material… There is no good learning without strong emo6on.” -- Seymour Papert 

Imagina6on is more important than Knowledge “Imagina6on is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited, whereas imagina6on embraces the en6re world, s6mula6ng progress, giving birth to evolu6on. It is, strictly speaking, a real factor in scien6fic research.” -- Albert Einstein 

Chemistry Language is similar to Natural Language “The language of chemistry is very similar to any natural language. Thus, there exists a great similarity between the language of chemistry and the natural language including the process as well as the mechanics of learning.” -- Mahadev Kumbar 

Storytelling is Cri6cal “Storytelling is cri6cal. If you organize informa6on in storytelling, children are more likely to learn it. And adults are, too.” -- Jennifer Kotler Clarke, Sesame Street’s VP for research and evalua9on 

The Adventures of Allison and Friends A comic series for young readers exploring the world of everyday chemistry, where chemistry language is treated as a natural language with chemical structures as words in a visual narra9ve. Samples from the series are as follows. 

The Context of a Chemical Structure is depicted in the Visual Narra;ve 2-methylundecanal This compound smells herbaceous, orange, and ambergris-like. It is used in a pres6gious perfume, namely Chanel No. 5. 

The Context of a Chemical Structure is depicted in the Visual Narra;ve Limonene Limonene takes its name from the lemon as the rind of the lemon, like other citrus fruits, contains considerable amounts of this compound, which contributes to their odor. Limonene is a chiral molecule – with (R)-limonene smelling like orange and (S)-limonene smelling like lemon. 

The Context of a Chemical Structure is depicted in the Visual Narra;ve Silk Protein Molecule What is shown here is known as the pleated structure of the molecules making up silk , where chains of the protein molecule are aligned side-by- side with every other chain aligned in the opposite direc6on. One source of such silk molecules is the thick mat of byssus threads of a pen shell used to anchor it in the seabed. 

The Context of a Chemical Structure is depicted in the Visual Narra;ve Curcumin, with its powerful an9oxidant and an9- inflammatory proper6es, is the most ac6ve cons6tuent of the turmeric spice, which is extracted and produced from rhizomes, tuberous underground stems of a turmeric plant. 

The Context of a Chemical Structure is depicted in the Visual Narra;ve Galantamine, an alkaloid that can be isolated from the bulb and flower of such flowers as snowdrop (shown here) or daffodil, has been used in the treatment of memory impairments, in par6cular those of vascular origin. 

The Context of a Chemical Structure is depicted in the Visual Narra;ve Anthocyanin absorbs light in the blue-green wavelengths, allowing the red wavelengths to be sca9ered by leaf 6ssues and make them visible to us in shades of red, purple and crimson. 

The Context of a Chemical Structure is depicted in the Visual Narra;ve Amylose and amylopec;n are two varie6es of glucose polymer making up – in respec6ve propor6ons of 30-70% or 20-80% - what is known as starch, a common ingredient among such food as mashed potatoes, bread, gravy and sauce… While amylose is an unbranched chain of glucose units, amylopec6n is highly branched with amyloselike chains. 

For Further Explora6on Available on Amazon com in both formats – digital and print: The Adventures of Allison and Friends A Treasure on the Beach The Secret of the Golden Yarn Hidden Treasure Pathways of the Great Forest More to come 

References •  Roald Hoffmann and Pierre Laszlo, Representa9on in Chemistry [in Roald Hoffmann on the Philosophy, Art, and Science of Chemistry, Oxford University Press (2012)] •  Mahadev Kumbar, Chemistry in a Day of Student’s Life, iUniverse (2003) •  Jim Tankersley, Study: Kids can learn as much from ‘Sesame Street’ as from preschool, Washington Post, June 7th, 2015. •  Stephen J Weininger, Contempla9ng the Finger: Visuality and the Semio9cs of Chemistry, An Interna6onal Journal for the Philosophy of Chemistry, Vol. 4 (1998), 3-27.