Mr. Yeoman was my chemistry teacher for both semesters, but what a beginning! The very first day of class in the lecture room as he was talking to us about chemistry, he took out from a drawer all of these wind-up toys, wound them up and let them loose on top of his demonstration table. At first, I thought he was crazy, but the reason was to make sure everyone was paying attention to what he was about to show us about chemistry. It was either a piece of cardboard or wood, I don't remember, but he poured on it a concentrated acid, and then a strong base. Fumes arose and it was obvious that these could be very dangerous. He then showed us two test tubes with the acid and the base, and took one drop from each and placed it on the test material with the same results. Then without blinking an eye, he mixed the contents of the test tubes in a beaker and drank them. Everyone gasped and I'm sure some of us thought he was commiting suicide. We found out shortly by being shown how a chemical reaction works, that when these two reagents were mixed, they became salt and water. What an introduction to chemistry! That beginning made it one of my favorite classes - and Mr. Yeoman one of my favorite teachers.

Mr. Yeoman had a significant influence on me. Although I did not decide to be a teacher until my Junior year at U of M, the animated manner he used to teach chemistry contributed to my science teaching skills. I still wonder about all the times he & other chemistry teachers had students decompose HgO into mercury and oxygen. If the mercury vapors impacted him it sure was not evident when he was my teacher!

Just found this topic and thought it should be reactivated.  Mr. Yeoman, amongst the stuff Ken Barna discussed, did the following one day.  He took a Lab Report by I think it was David Baldwin, and without reading it set it on fire.  This was his way to introduce Chemical Changes.  I have to believe he gave David an A for the report he could not read.