cherni~tryfor kid/
edited by RICHARD STEINER University of Utah
Salt Lake City. UT 84112
Adve tures in Chemistry for Elementary and I# iddle Schools Allen E. Hill South High School, 1700 East Louisiana, Denver, CO 80210 Sue Anne Berger Bear Creek High School, 3490 South Kipling, Denver, CO 80227 After reading Bartholomew and the Oobleckl to the class, the teacher gives each student a piece of waxed paper and a glob of "green wbleck". The students observe and experiment with the material. They share their observations and try to explain why the substance acts as it does. Sounds like an exciting science lesson in an elementary school classroom? I t is. With one small exception. The students in the class are teachers. The "teacher" is one of the students. The class instructors are in the back of the room having a grand time with the mixture of cornstarch. water. and food colorine. This scene is repeated again and again with different teachers and new exneriments. Evervone has a wonderful time; there is almost constant laugh&. And, they are learnine chemistrv. Green ooblecks. dancine Rice Krisdes, eaas p h m e n t s and 10-footbubhles are among dozens o'f che& try activities presented in the Adventures in Chemistry for ~ i e m e n t a r yand Middle Schools class that was develbped and taught by the authors through the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado. The course consisted of six weekly three-hour sessions. Each session beean with 30-45 minutes of demonstrations by the instructok For each demonstration, writing directions in a standard format were orovided. This was followed each week with a short lecture on topics ranging from philosophical and psychological foundations of teaching science to safety and storage of materials. With the exception of the first class session, the remainder of the time was devoted to participant demonstrations and activities. Course Outllne T o show the active, fun nature of chemistry, we decided upon an activity-oriented format for our course with two primary objectives: 1. To present some basic rationale and strategies for improving
science instruction in the elementary school, particularly in chemistry and physical science; 2. To develop a set of resource materials, including demonstrations, student experiments, and the like, to enhance science instruction in the elementary school classroom. The initial class session ended with the instructors' presentation of the first three experiments from Aduentures with Atoms and M ~ l e c u l e sThis . ~ small book contains 30 simple chemistry experiments that can be done by kids of all ages and require no special equipment or materials. Each participant then chose or was assigned one or two of the remaining experiments to present to the class the second week.
230
Journal of Chemical Education
In subsequent weeks, participants were required to develop or adapt two additional activities or demonstrations. Each of these activities was written following the standard format and copies provided for the members of the class. As many as possible of these activities were presented to the class, hut each participant was required to present at least one. Whenever possible, we supplied chemicals, equipment, and other materials to the class members to use in teaching their classes a t their schools. These items were donated bv or salvaged from our own schools, as well as from other schools and area colleees. The availabilitv of these materials made i t possible for the teachers to use the activities immediately in their own classrooms. Reaping the Benefits After compiling all of the activities from just one six-week class, each participant had a notebook packed with nearly 50 usable science activities for their classrooms. The varietv of activities and their number is astounding. We estimate conservativelv that two hours (or more) of nonstop . eee-s~eri-- . ments are-possible. For example: 1. Putting a boiled egg into a milk bottle; 2. Getting that egg out of the milk bottle; 3. Floating eggs;
Sinking eggs; Spinning fresh and cooked eggs; Dissolving the shells on eggs; Making "rubber" eggs; Dropping eggs from heights without breaking them; 9. Determining where sulfur is found in eggs; 10. Egg toss. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
The same varietv is true of activities erouoed bv conceot. Density, surface tension, energy changes, physical and chemical chances. acids and bases. and atomic theorv were just a few of t h i concepts for which'we developed or adapted activities. A network system including other area high schools was set up to enable the teachers to obtain additional materials. ~ o s chemistry i teachers in each high school fed by the &
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Seuss. D. Bariholomew and the Oobleck Random House: New York. 1949. Mebane. R. C.; Rybolt, T. R. Adventures with Atoms and Molecules: Chemlst~yExperiments for Young People; Enslow: Hillside, NJ. 1985.
teachers' elementary and middle schools were willing to assist by providing chemicals and equipment that would not normally he found in elementary schools. We stressed to the teachers in our class that they ask for specific items or specific amounts of specific substances. This created fewer problems for the high school teachers and insured that they would continue t o be cooperative in the future. Perhaps the most important outcome of the class has been the willingness of class members to try activities with their
own classes. After seeing some experiments fail and many others work perfectly, they began to see that the most important thing is that kids of all ages have the opportunity to explore and experiment. They also learned that i t is not necessary to know all the answers. I t is perfectly acceptable to learn along with and from your students, rather than being an all-knowing source of information. The teachers also rediscovered the excitement of learning and teaching science.
Volume 66
Number 3
March 1989
23 1
