Love is in the Air!

By Jenn Parsons on February 13, 2019

In celebration of Valentine’s Day, AACT has put together a collection of loving content that may be useful in your chemistry classroom.

Chemistry teachers know that many molecules, such as serotonin, dopamine, and adrenaline play an important role in the chemistry of love. Help your students to better understand the basic function of these molecules by reviewing this printable infographic from Compound Interest.
If time is limited, share the 5-minute video, The Chemistry of Love, produced by ACS Reactions.
Students of all grade levels can test their love for the periodic table and their knowledge of the elements by completing the word search puzzle from the new activity, Put Your Love to the Test!
The lesson plan, Valentine’s Day Chemistry also provides some fun suggestions for familiarizing your students with the chemistry of love!

According to statistics collected by the National Confectioners Association, 69% of American consumers prefer chocolate over flowers for Valentine’s Day. At AACT, we 100% agree. If you would like to find out if your students also prefer chocolate, we recommend using the ChemClub activity, Eat Chocolate in the Name of Science!
Students may be curious about the health benefits or implications of eating chocolate. Teachers could help students to investigate this idea by using the lesson plan, Chocolate: The New Health Food, based on a 2009 ChemMatters article.
ACS Reactions has another great video related to this topic that students will enjoy. Consider showing Milk vs Dark Chocolate: The Ultimate Showdown in your classroom.

There is plenty of chemistry to learn about flowers as well. Check out another ACS Reactions video to find out why Roses Smell so Sweet or download a printable infographic from Compound Interest to learn about both The Color and Aroma of Roses.