Teaching Resources

Pharmachemical Ireland - Cosmetics Module

Geraldine Mooney-Simmie

Pharmachemical Ireland

2009

Downloadable material

Medium

Experiential learning

Industrial Chemistry

Lower Secondary School

English

No

This module is designed to promote the science behind cosmetics In this module, the author considers the chemistry involved in the cosmetics business, the manufacture of skin, nail and hair care and other beauty products.

The beauty business worldwide is worth a small fortune and here in Ireland, young people are enjoying the products that help with their personal grooming, help to develop their self-esteem and enhance their attractiveness. The module explores the chemistry involved in the manufacture of a few of these products, and gives instructions for a few experiments that can be easily tried, and also links for those who want to explore this topic further to connect with the industry.
The module comes in two downloadable booklets.
http://www.pharmachemicalireland.ie/Sectors/PCI/PCI.nsf/vPages/Education~Teachers~cosmetics-01-09-2009/$file/cosmetics%20module2.pdf
This is just thirty three pages long so would be easy to print and reproduce for student use. It is structured as follows:
Introduction
Aims of the Module
Four Teaching units, on Skin, Hair, Teeth and Nails, Lipstick and Perfumes are organised in 4 parts:
1. Core Knowledge
1.2 Further Investigations
1.3 Experiment
1.4 Science Project Suggestion
The booklet concludes with short sections on The Cosmetics Industry, The Legends in the Cosmetics Industry and a ‘Test Your Knowledge’ part.
The second booklet presents a set of experiments which could be carried out as a class activity. These include materials, method and a set of sample results from a class that trialled the material.

Pharmachemical Ireland is an industry representative organisation, which has for a number of years had an education executive to interface industry with education. PharmaChemical Ireland have developed a number of Transition Year science modules that can be used in the classroom. This material can be down loaded from the website or was available on CD. Geraldine Mooney Simmie is an experience chemistry teacher, author of a school chemistry textbook, and currently involved in training student teachers. While the booklets are relatively short, they would have benefited from more illustration, and also safety pointers in the experiment booklet. Teachers using these should carry out risk assessments before doing the classroom activities.

Limerick Institute of Technology