edited by GARYE. DUNKLEBERGER Carroll County Publ!c Schwls 55 Nanh Court Street
Classroom Potpourri Josephlne K. Marshall 412 Fairway, Huntsville, TX 77340
Every classroom situation is different, and teachers respond by developing materials and techniques to fit their local environment. In this View from my Classroom, I will descrihe three techniaues that I have found effective as well as eniov.. able. Over the past 12 years I have attended several NSF Institutes and some conferences where chemical education was discussed. From these and the JOURNAL reading I have done it seems clear thrn there is considerable disagr&ment as to what a high school chemistry course should include. As a result I have d&eloped portiongof my own curriculum, incorporating idrni from the institutes and cunferenres where and aq I (:auld. Thus the programs "Chemistry by Extension RendingWand"Chemistryby lnvolvement with Hu~nanities"came about. The extension readine Droeram brines out the relevance of chemistry to everyla; lit%. students discover that chemistrv is not all math. that it can he helpful-or harmful-in o& life experiencks, that chemists are people. Furthermore, many of them discover reading sources they never dreamed existed. The work with humanities has forced thinkine and ~ r o m o t e dohiloso~hicalreadine for chem I1 students. e he; enjoy thechallenge, struggle &d freedom of ones with tearine down reconceived ideas and huildingnew a firmbasis. The strategies described in the section "Chemistry hy Analogy" were developed over a period of 25 years. As I have seen unsophisticated students struggle with many of the concepts we try to teach, I have grasped for a means to bring these concepts to life. This is especially important now as we seem to get more sophomores who are bright but not conceptually ready for chemistry. Through analogies I try to help students become very personally involved and to give them something to which they can relate when the concept itself seems very far removed. ~
Chemistry by Extension Reading As I contemplate areas being stressed at conferences, it seems to me that those areas that do not fit directly into the
academics of chemistry can he placed in three broad categories: environmental orohlems. career education. and humanities. All deserve some cbnsideration, hut thk core curriculum does not d o w time for them. So I have develo~ed a reading program in which students write up to four papers a year. These have heen used as an alternative to ascience fair project or as part of a contract system. The general topics assigned are 1) a chemistry-relatedenvironmental problem,
2) how chemistry is used in a career, but not a career in chem-
istry,
3) the biography of a chemist, and 4) an ethical question which a chemist or scientist must face
The papers are intended more as reading reports than research papers, though they could take either form. One idea that I stress is that vou can read about science in somethine other than a textbook or encyclopedia. Students really enjo; the naDers and rate them hieh in the end-of-the-vear course evaluation. &
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Chemistry by lnvolvement with Humanities
The 1978 NSF Institute on "Science..Technoloev and Human Values" a t Seattle University provided the impetus for this enrichment Droeram. I recruited the cooneration of . Leslie Patterson, a senior English teacher who was also interested in challenging her upper-level students to do some reading and thinking in these areas. For six weeks a t the end of the school year my chemistry I1 class and her accelerated senior English class met together once a week to discuss the reading assignments. Students were required t o turn in writ& ahstr&ts of their reading to avoid pnintless discussitm. This typeof activity required a lot of backgruund reading on the teacher's part but proved very satisfying in the end.The reading list we used was not exhaustive, hut included (1) Branmki, J., "Science and Human Values," Harper end Row, New York, 1975.
(21 Bmnoanki, J., "The Aseent ofMan."Harper and Row, N w York. 1973. (3) Commoner. Barry, "Seienee and Survival."Viking Press, New York. 1970. (4) Conant, J., "Science and Common Sense," Yale University Press. New Hsuen, CT, I9C1
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c1assrm. though feature, fa all to Teachers are into share their lique~,methods, deologles. CanhEns should be sent ? feahlre editor.
$51 Dull ..Rmr.'ThcDnsmofR~a~on."Cnl.mb~aUnher~~ly l ' r r r . Uca Scrk. 1961. 6) K11%#1J . ' " l ' h e l i r h m l u g # : a l S r # r l y 'A l l r . d A K n p l . l n . b u S rc.1361. -1 hrrhcr. Hobcrt B 'Sc#ence. \Ian and SAPIY:' U h S u n d e t s Cn. l'h~!adelph#~,
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(81 Roszak, Thedore, "The Unfinished Animsi," H w e r and Row. N w York,1971. (9) Roszak, Thpadow. "Where the Wssteiand Ends," Harper and Roar New York, 1WF ...
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