Chemistry Everyday for Everyone
edited by
chemistry for kids
Linda Woodward University of Southwestern Louisiana Layfayette, LA 70504
Chemistry for Children: A Program in Precollege Chemistry for Elementary and Middle School Teachers Scott A. Davis and Arnold George Chemistry Department, Mansfield University, Mansfield, PA 16933 Experience, attitudes, and materials are important barriers to a goal of hands-on scientific endeavors in elementary and middle school classrooms. A majority of elementary and middle school teachers tend to use textbooks alone as their informational source for materials in science education. While teachers want hands-on activities that can easily and safely be done in their classrooms, an additional factor to the lack of use of hands-on activities is that relatively few school teachers have had any academic training in chemistry. Given these needs and the fact that teachers overwhelmingly prefer to obtain new ideas and information about teaching methods from colleagues rather than from any other source, this program was developed. It was specifically designed to educate and train selected teachers to accomplish these goals: utilize hands-on activities to teach simple chemical facts and ideas to their students, provide in-service workshops in chemistry for their colleagues, and function as resource persons within their school districts. This project lasted two years and involved 19 teachers from grades 4 through 8. The goals of the program were accomplished in six parts: • • •
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A three-week intensive chemistry and science methods workshop during the summer of 1992; A three-day session on in-service presentations in February of 1993; Supervised in-service presentations and on-site classroom observations during the remainder of the 1992–1993 school year; A three-week session during the summer of 1993, which provided the participants further knowledge of chemistry, its applications, and strategies for integrating the chemistry they learned into their specific curriculums; Supervised in-service presentations and on-site classroom observations during the 1993–1994 school year; A one-day final project overview and evaluation session in May 1994.
Participant Selection Selection criteria favored teachers who had a demonstrated record of excellence in teaching and a demonstrated willingness to help colleagues in need of instructional assistance. A background in chemistry was neither assumed nor required. Every effort was made to select two teachers from the same school or district in order for them to offer one another support and assistance. Selections were based on: • • •
teaching experience evidence of continuing education principal’s or supervisor’s favorable recommendation
•
• • •
school district’s commitment of support - The school or district provided and paid for a substitute teacher during the three days in February 1993 when the teacher participant was at Mansfield. - The school or district assumed all costs for materials and supplies for in-service programs. - The school or district provided released time, if necessary, for the teacher to conduct an inservice program. - The school or district provided the opportunity for the teacher to teach chemistry. evidence that the teacher is teaching science applicant’s willingness to teach in-service programs applicants’ experience in teaching in-service programs
The Summer 1992 Workshop This part consisted of a three-week workshop and involved the participants in chemistry activities and experiences suitable for grades 4 through 8. The workshop treated basic principles within the framework of projects that are suitable for children, directed by their teacher, and within the environment and restrictions of the conventional classroom setting. All activities made use of low-cost, easily obtainable chemicals, equipment, and materials. Simplicity and safety were the two most important considerations. Each participant was given a package of supplies, an activities manual and in-service guide written by the project directors, and the second edition of ChemCom Chemistry in the Community, a project of the American Chemical Society, which served as the theory book. A list of these items and copies of author-prepared materials are available on request. The workshop consisted of morning, afternoon, and some evening meetings. During these times the teachers performed activities in concert with the project directors and an education specialist. The sessions were devoted to lessons on hands-on activities, chemical and educational theory, adaptations, and assessment. Among the activities that the teachers participated in were experiments in generating and experimenting with gases, experimental design, batteries, and paper-making. Laboratory activities included with the theory portion were experiments on density, pH using cabbage juice, and molecular structure. Throughout each of the activities, the teachers were involved in gathering materials, performing experiments, learning background theory, and analyzing the data and information collected. Throughout the workshop, participants learned to prepare and use various solutions and to construct simple pieces of equipment and apparatus. Containers for solutions, the chemicals to make them, a supply of
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Chemistry Everyday for Everyone
all chemicals needed to perform the workshop activities, and all of the equipment they made were kept by the teachers. Thus, when they returned to their schools, they had all the necessary materials to do the activities with their students. In addition, led by the project directors, the participants were guided through the process of adapting the chemistry activities to their particular curricula. Each teacher was required to complete and present to other participants, in small groups, at least one adaptation by the end of the workshop. At the conclusion of this phase and all others, the teachers were reminded to teach chemistry for children the next school year. The February 1993 Workshop In February all participants returned to the Mansfield University campus for a three-day intensive workshop in the theory, preparation, and presentation of in-service programs. Three science educators were invited to conduct seminars and work sessions that actively involved the teachers in projects to help prepare them to give professional, in-service presentations. Further, the project directors designed an eight-part, hands-on project for the teachers that was a model of chemistry-across-the-curriculum. Its theme was crystals, and it included reading, writing, art, measurement, geography, and laboratory projects. At the conclusion of the workshop, teachers were reminded to present chemistry in-services to their colleagues within their school districts and to continue teaching chemistry to their students in their classrooms. During the remainder of the school year the project directors maintained regular contact with the teachers and made on-site visitations to assist with conducting their in-services and chemistry classes. The Summer 1993 Workshop All participants returned to Mansfield University for a final three weeks of instruction, which included morning and afternoon meetings. The project directors engaged the participants in workshop activities and theory that dealt with applied chemistry. The topics treated along with appropriate grade-level activities included agricultural chemistry, food chemistry, and the chemistry of household products, drugs, polymers, glass, and ceramics. A water analysis study was conducted on the local streams and rivers. Throughout this phase, the participants were guided in the performance and background of experiments involving practices and techniques that are currently used, and they gathered the materials required for demonstrations and activities that exemplify real-world chemistry. To make them better resource persons and to help in their understanding of the practical applications of chemistry and its impact on society, the teachers visited eight local chemical industries. In addition to these, visits were made to a local coal strip-mining operation and Mansfield sewage-treatment and water-treatment plants. Among the activities that the participants were engaged in during this second summer session were studies on plastics and polymers, biomolecules such as carbohydrates and proteins, and the genetic code. In addition, students made soap and synthesized different esters. At the conclusion of the three weeks, the teachers were reminded to continue to teach chemistry for children the next school year and to do a second in-service presentation to be observed by one of the project directors.
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Final Project Overview and Evaluation In May 1994, the teachers returned to Mansfield University for one day in which they had the opportunity to share their experiences related to in-servicing peers and teaching chemistry to pre-secondary school children. During the day, the teachers did a project evaluation conducted by an independent evaluator. Supplemental to the outside evaluator ’s report, evaluation instruments were used to monitor the effectiveness and progress of this program at all stages. We developed a chemistry content test and administered it to the participants on the first day of the summer 1992 workshop and on the last day of all sessions. At the start of the summer 1992 workshop and at the end of all sessions of this program, the Shrigley and Johnson Science Attitude Scale (1) was administered. Before the final meeting in May, participants were sent questionnaires to be completed by the time they attended the session. One of these, the Objective Assessment Questionnaire, developed by us, requested information based on the participants’ activities prior to this program as well as their current activities. A second one is the Qualitative Evaluation Questionnaire that was developed and used by the independent evaluator. Results Table 1 contains the mean results of the 85-question content test administered on the first and last days of this project. It also contains the mean results of the 26-question science attitude survey for which the group response can range from {2 (strongly negative toward science) to +2. In Figure 1 are presented the results of the Objective Assessment Questionnaire. This questionnaire maps the teachers’ mean responses to twelve issues, including teacher attitude (TA) and student attitude (SA). The response range for each issue is from {2 to +2; 0 is neutral.
Figure 1. Objective assessment questionnaire results.
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Chemistry Everyday for Everyone
Conclusion Table 1. Pretest and Posttest Mean Results Pretest June 1992
Posttest May 1994
Chemistry Content Test
51.5
61.8
Science Attitude
+1.09
+1.51
Anecdotally, it is obvious that many of the participants have exceeded the goals of our project to become local science experts and resource persons. Several of the participants have been involved in school-district-wide, regional, state, and national meetings, sharing their expertise, experience, and adaptations with great numbers of other teachers. Furthermore, still other participants have shared insights on teaching and learning science with concerned citizens and legislators. According to the independent evaluator’s report, “Overall, the Chemistry for Children training program for teachers was very positively received. Teachers were profoundly affected by the training and made substantial and significant changes in the way they teach chemistry and science in general. Teachers felt the program helped them overcome their own anxieties and insecurities regarding science instruction and that the changes they made in their teaching had very positive impacts on the children they teach. From these teachers’ subjective perspective, the methods and activities taught in this program, substantially improved young students’ involvement in, knowledge of, and enthusiasm for science.”
Our results demonstrate that the project goals have been achieved. Specifically we have educated and trained teachers to use hands-on activities to teach simple chemical facts, improved their attitudes toward science, and trained them to be in-service science specialists. This has resulted in improved classroom activities, improved student participation, and improved communication among colleagues. We now have a cadre of elementary and middle school teachers able to teach simple chemical facts and hands-on activities to their students and other teachers. Acknowledgments We which to acknowledge Thomas Arnold, David A. Franz, Donna Oliver, Vern Rockcastle, and Edward Zielinski, all of whom served as consultants to this project. We also acknowledge Dennis Murray, of Mansfield University’s Psychology Department, who was the independent evaluator. Special thanks are in order to the following industries for providing informative lectures and guided tours of their facilities: the Cargill Salt Co. of Watkins Glen, NY; Corning, Inc., of Corning, NY; the Hammermill Paper Co. of Lock Haven, PA; E. I. duPont of Towanda, PA; Oshram Sylvania of Towanda, PA; Bristol-Myers Squibb of Syracuse, NY; Witco Corporation’s Kendall Oil Refinery in Bradford, PA; LONZA, Inc., of Williamsport, PA; and the Borough of Mansfield, PA. We are most happy to acknowledge the support of this project by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. TPE-9154801. Literature Cited 1. Shrigley, R. L.; Johnson, M. T. School Sci. Math. 1974, 74, 437–446.
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