FARMINGTON — Want to learn about the ancient chemical technology of making fires, soap from fat or alcohol from honey, all from the comfort of your own home?

The new course, Caveman Chemistry, is one of seven online courses being offered during the spring semester at the University of Maine at Farmington.

The introductory chemistry course “is a blending of the new and (really) old: the course will be delivered online using the latest gadgets and gizmos, but also features an experiential component in which the student attempts to recreate these ancient technologies,” the course’s teacher, UMF Associate Professor of Chemistry Terry Morocco, said in an email.

Using items found in most homes or easily purchased, the course “teaches chemistry with practical examples that everyone will instantly recognize,” he said. 

The examples are things that touch their lives every day, such as making paper from grass or alcohol from honey. The lessons also include the historical context of the examples studied.

There is no classroom time. Students pursue lessons online and then reproduce and document with video for the three-credit course.

Morocco developed the course from the book, “Caveman Chemistry,” written by chemist Kevin Dunn of Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, he said.

Although Dunn teaches the course in a traditional classroom, Morocco felt the textbook could be easily adapted to the online format, he said. He has thought about teaching the course for some time.

Dunn describes Caveman Chemistry as “an experiential exploration of chemical technology from the campfires of the stone age to the plastic soft-drink bottle. Instructions are given for making bronze from metal ores; glass from sand, ashes and limestone; paper from grass or straw; soap from fat; alcohol from honey; photographs from egg whites; chlorine from saltwater and celluloid from cotton.”

For Morocco, that means teaching students about chemistry in a more interesting and clear way for the students — something that will appeal to not only college students, but also others in the community, he said. There is no prerequisite knowledge of chemistry needed.

It is an introductory course, he added.

Other online courses available include studies in poetry writing, psychology, Beethoven and the Romantic Rebellion, and an introduction to family violence issues.

Another course offered is titled, “Food Fight.” In a description, teacher Wendy Harper questions how food became the enemy after “First Lady Michelle Obama announced a major initiative to combat childhood obesity.” It contrasts obesity with the fact that many children “live in a food-insecure home.”

Full descriptions and tuition details for these online courses are available at UMF online. Registration is available until the classes start on Jan. 21 by visiting peportal.maine.edu and clicking on “Distance Learning Class Search.”

For more information, contact Ashley Montgomery, UMF director of the Teaching and Learning Collaborative, by email at ashleym@maine.edu.

abryant@sunjournal.com

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