Londa L. Borer CaliforniaState University-Sacramento Sacramento, 95819
Recently a t California State University-Sacramento, we initiated a liberal studies chemistry course designed specificallv for nrosnective elementary school teachers. We have . . tauiht basic principles of chemistry as well asdiscussed how these ideas can he simplified and ran he applied in elementary school classrooms. T; test the level of experiments that we have chosen and to actually have some experience with teaching children ourselves, we conducted two two-week sessions of chemistry with elementary school children this past summer. One section consisted of 24 fifth and sixth graders and the other section consisted of 24 third and fourth graders. We had an equal number of hoys and girls in each class. The classes were held on our college campus and were two hours a-~davlfive davs a week. F& our program, we contacted one of the school districts in the Sacramento area and asked for volunteers from the gifted student program in the age groups desired. Since the children were going to he missing the first two weeks of their summer vacation, we wanted it to he strictly voluntary. The children were not required to pay any fees hut were told that we were offering the-course as an opportunity for them to see some chemistry in action. The response was very good and we had plenty of students. As a help to the program, we offered one unit of college graduate credit to returning elementary school teachers through the continuing education department. I t was our hope that we could enable teachers presently teaching to have an opportunity to see how chemistry can he applied in the elementary classroom. They subsequently could give us ideas on different approaches that can he used in teaching children. A lahoratory manual for each section was prepared so that each student would have the necessary materials before him. The outline of topics used was ~~~~
1) What is Science? (collecting and classifying objects) 2) Scientific Method of Thinking (observinga burning candle and
sugar dissolving in water) 3) What is a Substance? (discovering the cbemiesl and physical
properties of various pure substances)
4) Mixtures-MysteryPowders. (separating and identifying unknown mixtures)
Measurement in the Metric System. (body measurements in metric units) 6) Models and an Introduction to the Atom 7) Molecular Theory. (discovering properties of solids, liquids, and gases on a molecular level) 8) Acids and Bases. (usine various household items as sources of . acid and base) 9) Biochemistry: What is in the foods we eat? (testing for the presence of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, etc., in different foods) 10) Organic Chemistry. (experimentingwith various polymers) we gave a pretest a t the beginning of the course to see what the children already knew about the given topics and then gave a test a t the end of the two weeks to see what they had gained from the experience. An attempt was made to present chemistry as an exact science rather than as magic so our topics were chosen to accomplish this goal. Little time was spent in lecturing since we found that their attention span was not very long. Most of the time was spent in demonstrations and actual "hands on" experiments. Several different experiments were usually planned for each two-hour period. We found a great deal of enthusiasm for the course amongst the children themselves as well as amongst their parents. Parents have asked that we expand the program to include more grade levels and more students since they felt that their children had gained much from the experience. All of the elementarv school teachers that narticinated in the nroaram have inciuded chemistry to some extent in their schedile of classes for the comina year. We have been in contact with most of them and will oh&e the results of their efforts over the year. A couple of teachers have requested, and have been granted, some time in which they can bring their current class to our campus to visit the chemistry department. present& we are in the planning st&s for the coming summer program. We plan to offer three sections of one to one and one-half hours in leneth d e ~ e n d i n euDon the ape level since two hours seemed to-he todlong. w e kill add asection of first and second graders. Plans are to open it to any student rather than just to the gifted. Anyone interested in more information on our program and/or a laboratory manual should write to the author. 5)
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Volume 54, Number 11, November 1977 1 703
