The teaching of chemistry

The teaching of chemistry should constitute more than facts about chemicals and their methods of bonding. What is needed even more is to teach the fundamental ways of thinking used by chemists, for if the student can master these modes of thought, he or she will be better able to understand chemistry and any facts that are to be taught later. To teach this mode of though, a strategy is needed that will help the student understand the issues involved. The teaching of chemistry os often delayed until the alter grades, but this is not a good approach given that by the time the student reaches those grades, his or her mode of thought is set and is difficult to change. Children should be guided to understand the sciences beginning in the early grades so they will be better prepared for more advanced scientific knowledge later. An examination of some of the modes of thought of the chemist and of ways of demonstrating those thought processes to students will lead to a consideration of proper strategies to use for children in kindergarten through the twelfth grade.

First, the student should be made aware that chemistry is not a distant discipline that does not impinge directly on their lives, for indeed chemistry is all around them and is an important part of their daily lives:

Chemistry is not limited to people working in laboratories; you deal with chemical principles, concepts, and reactions whenever you cook, take aspirin tablets, or wash clothes. your home is, in fact,

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y to wash our hands and polish our cars. Certain chemical concepts will be considered here in terms of a strategy to teach them to the early grades. These include the three-dimensional structure of molecules, equilibrium and dynamics. The nature of molecules is a difficult concept to convey, but the existence of molecules and some of their interactions can be conveyed in the early grades, probably around the third grade. Krishman (1990) describes the nature of molecules and some experiments which can be used to teach about molecules, their movement in a gas, and their movement in solids. MOLECULES OF GASES The purpose of the following exercise is to determine that gas molecules are moving rapidly in all directions. This begins with a lesson. All substances are made of molecules, and they are constantly moving, even though in a solid they move very slowly. Molecules in a liquid move a little faster, and those in a gas move rapidly. Molecules cannot be seen in isolation, and to study them you need millions of them. Almost all gases are colorless and invisible, making it more difficult to study them. Gases can be identified without seeing them, however, as many of them give off a scent. Students are familiar with molecul

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