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, a chemical laboratory, providing you with an opportunity to observe, record, explain, and discover the world of chemistry as it operates in your kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, garage, and backyard (Tocci, 1985, iv).
This provides the instructor with ample opportunities to cite examples the student will understand, to make use of common materials in demonstrations and for lessons, and to get the student to begin looking at the world as a chemical-laborat...