Oct. 25, 2002 -- To help celebrate National Chemistry Week, The Chlorine Chemistry Council® has launched a new interactive Web site that invites kids to learn more about contaminants that can infect our drinking water and how they are treated.
The Global Bug Conspiracy invites kids to take a look at case files and rap sheets on potentially deadly microbes such as E. coli, Giardia and Shigella, and the bacteria that cause cholera and typhoid fever (complete with police lineup photos).
The World Health Organization estimates that diseases associated with dirty water kill at least 6,000 people every single day.
Chlorine is responsible for the destruction of many microbes and used in water treatment facilities to clean and disinfect. The site uses colorful pictures and a unique interactive learning environment to make learning about the microbes interesting.
A "flashlight" feature, available from one of the tabs at the top of the page, throws the whole page into darkness except for a round section of the viewer's choosing. The viewer can continue moving the "flashlight beam" around the page to read other sections.
National Chemistry Week (NCW), October 20-26, 2002, is a community-based program sponsored by the American Chemical Society (ACS). This annual event unites ACS local sections, industries, schools, and individuals in communicating the importance of chemistry to our quality of life.
To see the educational site (and to try the flashlight feature), visit http://science-education.org/bugconspiracy/.
To learn more about National Chemistry Week, visit the site at http://www.chemistry.org/portal/Chemistry?PID=acsdisplay.html&DOC=ncw index.html.
