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Promezio is a famous Italian chemistry professor who is searching for missing element n. 61. In 1924 his laboratory is partially destroyed by a fire and he disappears. Almost one hundred years later high school students are recruited to investigate this strange case. “The strange case of Professor Promezio” represents a unicum in the panorama of laboratory activities for high school students: it is a cold case in which students are asked to investigate a fact that took place almost a century ago. Through the chemical analysis of different findings, the connection with historical events of that period, the study of the suspects' interrogation reports, the reproduction of the experiments conducted by Professor Promezio, the students will identify the possible culprit. A complex scientific problem is solved exploring different areas of chemistry and, in addition, interconnections with history, geography, ethics and other school subjects are deepened.

The article presents a simple demonstration of photocatalysis. The demonstration is visual, simple to perform, and could easily be modified into a laboratory experiment. It also discusses the mechanism of dye degradation by the photocatalyst and illustrates a photocatalytic reaction, which is also an example of the reduction and oxidation of organic compounds and experimental design that link the catalysis to titanium oxide or TiO2.

The article presents a science experiment to help eighth grade students understand that diamonds are made of carbon and that atoms neither change nor vanish during chemical reactions, or conservation of mass. This is accomplished through a demonstration of the combustion of carbon to carbon dioxide and then the reduction of carbon dioxide to carbon. The author provides a description of the first and second processes, safety considerations, and student impressions.