Teaching Secondary Science by Keith Ross & Liz Lakin & Janet McKechnie & Jim Baker

Author:Keith Ross & Liz Lakin & Janet McKechnie & Jim Baker [Keith Ross]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781317564065
Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Without the idea of indestructible atoms all other explanations in chemistry become nearly impossible. We need to test our pupils continually to see whether they have grasped this idea and are beginning to use it. In a similar way it is no use explaining the constructive (building up of oxides) approach to combustion and respiration and the need for a distinction to be drawn between matter and energy, presented in this chapter, in one lesson only, if you later talk about ‘food contains energy’ or ‘energy in a crisp’ or ‘oil contains energy’. Instead say ‘food provides fuel for the body’ and ‘oil is a fossil fuel’. Nor should ideas of acids and rates of reaction be confined to bottles of chemicals in laboratories. Instead they should be used as a concept to help us to explain how everyday chemical changes happen in the kitchen, within living things and in our whole environment. We must give our pupils much more time to reinterpret, use and apply the ideas they meet in their science lessons. Otherwise they will be learnt for the exams, harvested as a ‘good’ grade and promptly forgotten.

For those of you specialising in chemistry teaching see the Royal Society of Chemistry website for a fuller review of chemical misconceptions and other resources for teaching chemistry: www.rsc.org/learn-chemistry.

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