Evaluation by Group 11

1.) 20 - The topic group 17 selected was a very good one.
Stereochemistry of alkanes shows a very strong relation to organic
chemistry.  Since the group related the topic to pollutants associated
with gasoline, this topic appeals to a broad  audience.
 2.) 10 - The Washington Post is a very high quality newspaper.  The
article was just long enough so one would not get bored and since the
subject pertains to everyone who buys cars, it was interesting to see
how companies are trying to reduce pollution.
 3.) 7 - Grammar and Style were good on the editorial comments.  It
supported the article very well.  One could have defined more ways to
clean up gasoline in the editorial comments.
 4.) 8 - There could have been more organic chemical content,
especially in the editorial comments.  The links to pertinent chemicals
was really good, but more could have been said about the
stereochemistry of alkanes.
 5.) 20 - The links were very helpful in understanding the news
article.  The Jeep Cherokee lind was very elaborate, but the chemical
content of it was not there.
 6.) 10 - There was much variance in the questions and the final
question really made us think.
 7.) 10 - The questions were well thought out.  They were not easy by
any means, but they were not too difficult.
 8.) 10 - Our overall impression of this project was very good.  Since
cleaning up our environment is a very serious topic that all people
should be aware of, this article reaches out to a wide variety of
people.  One could use this when teaching about hydrocarbons,
pollutants from car emissions and hydrocracking.
 
 

Evaluation by Group 12
 (1) Topic Selection: 20 Points (0-20)
                        Everyone uses gasoline in their cars .  The topic
strongly relates to alkanes.

        (2) Newspaper and Article Selection: 9 Points (0-10)
                        They used a high quality newspaper. The article
was from 1999. The author seemed to refer to others for quotes and
information from a second-hand source. Not short, but very informative.

        (3) Quality of the Editorial Comments: 10 Points (0-10)
                        The editorial compliments the article and is
written in a straightforward manner. It follows the timeline of the
article.

        (4) Organic Chemistry Content: 8 Points (0-10)
                        The issue seemes very clear, but what gasoline
consists of was left out. The combustibles and pollutants of cars were
clearly stated. The Chapter on alkanes is the most reasonable.

        (5) Selection and Quality of the Links: 17 Points (0-20)
                        The links lacked about how any of the compounds
reacted and focused more on organization homepages. You had to do a search
on a compound for some links. Some links did prove to be relevant and
well-placed.

        (6) Format, Number and Types of Questions: 10 Points (0-10)
                        Yes, the questions relate well to the categories,
and the last question is PSP.

        (7) Quality of the Questions: 10 Points (0-10)
                        The problems would not take long to answer and
kept to the points described in the editorial.

        (8) Overall Impression. 9 Points (0-10)
                        The revelance to organic chemistry seemed a little
brushed over, but the overall information and impression of this news item
would aid in the understanding of general chemistry.

                        Well-organized. Nice grammar. Informative and kept
a keen interest.
 

Evaluation by Group 13
 (1) Topic Selection: 17 Points (0-20)
                        Today there are more and more light trucks and sport utility vehicles on the road.  Also more are being purchased.  That is why this is a very important topic.  It lacked in the relationship to importance to chemisrty, especially organic chemistry.

        (2) Newspaper and Article Selection: 9 Points (0-10)
                        The article appears to meet all of the requirements for this section.  The author seemed to be qualified in the subject, however he seemed to just relate facts.  It was not the most interesting thing ever written.

        (3) Quality of the Editorial Comments: 8 Points (0-10)
                        The editorial comments do help out the article.  It takes some of the more boring aspects of the article and puts them in a easier format to understand.

        (4) Organic Chemistry Content: 6 Points (0-10)
                        This is the most dissapointing aspect of the article.  It lacked concepts pertaining to the chemistry at hand.  The refernce section was the only thing that saved this section.

        (5) Selection and Quality of the Links: 16 Points (0-20)
                        This was an important part of the article, and it was really weak.  The relavence pertained to the subject, but gave no explanations.  The links were however embedded well into the editorial comments.

        (6) Format, Number and Types of Questions: 8 Points (0-10)
                        Question obligations were met.  Opinionated question leaves the reader with an important issue to think about concerning the environment they live in.

        (7) Quality of the Questions: 7 Points (0-10)
                        The questions are not strange, but do not focus on the main issues, and we do not feel that nuclear automobiles will be the wave of the future.  However the questions are understandable and can be worked in a reasonable amount of time.

        (8) Overall Impression. 7 Points (0-10)
                        This could become a useful tool, if some changes are made and there is more chemistry application added.
 
 

Evaluation by Group 14

  (1) Topic Selection: 20 Points (0-20)
                        This is appealing to a broad audience and pertinent to our society.  Good choice!

        (2) Newspaper and Article Selection: 9 Points (0-10)
                        This is a recent article however the author of the article is not highly qualified to write on organic chemistry.  Therefore would be hard for you to draw the organic chemistry from the article.

        (3) Quality of the Editorial Comments: 9 Points (0-10)
                        Good comments.  Not the best grammar.

        (4) Organic Chemistry Content: 7 Points (0-10)
                        There was not a significant amount of organic chemistry included in your editorial comments.  It would have been nice for your group to go more in depth about how emissions react with the environment on a molecular level.  This would have pulled in the organic issue quite well; however, it was lacking in this aspect.

        (5) Selection and Quality of the Links: 19 Points (0-20)
                        Most links were good.  The one's to chem finder gave us a little challenge, and the jeep link was cute.  A few more links to the chemistry aspect would have been nice.

        (6) Format, Number and Types of Questions: 10 Points (0-10)
                        Met all requirements.

        (7) Quality of the Questions: 10 Points (0-10)
                        Great questions!

        (8) Overall Impression. 8 Points (0-10)
                        No.  This would be insufficient to distribute to a classroom for the purpose of learning about organic chem.  A little more time could have been put into researching your topic.  (It was also a little short.)

                        total= 92
 

Evaluation by Group 15

    (1) Topic Selection: 19 Points (0-20)
                        Relevant article with issues that effect all of us.

        (2) Newspaper and Article Selection: 9 Points (0-10)
                        Good article - maybe a bit long.

        (3) Quality of the Editorial Comments: 9 Points (0-10)
                        The upbeat tone of the comments was good. There were some grammar problems that decreased the clarity of the comments.

        (4) Organic Chemistry Content: 8 Points (0-10)
                        The connection to organic chemistry was not made clear enough - alkanes weren't even discussed in the comments.

        (5) Selection and Quality of the Links: 17 Points (0-20)
                        An alkane link should have been provided - this is what the chapter is about. Linking to actual models of sulfur and NO would have been better than linking to ChemFinder. Need more links related to organic chemistry.

        (6) Format, Number and Types of Questions: 10 Points (0-10)
                        Pertinent questions.

        (7) Quality of the Questions: 9 Points (0-10)
                        Alkanes and cracking are finally discussed in the questions. Questions are well done. Would be nice to know the group's opinion on the last question.

        (8) Overall Impression. 8 Points (0-10)
                        Overall, well done. Some adjustments needed.

                        Overall content is good. Need to talk more about alkanes, though.