MINI PROJECT 2

 

REVISING THE CHEMISTRY CURRICULUM

 

Ed Psy 490ASA

 

Leonard Fretzin

 

 

 

The purpose of revising the Chemistry curriculum is to improve its relevance and effectiveness in providing a usable and meaningful introduction to Chemistry for regular track students.  I first began questioning the relevance of the current curriculum because regular track students were having so much difficulty learning subjects like electron configurations (which is quantum mechanics), hybrid orbitals, naming chemical compounds, determining reaction rates, thermodynamics, Gibbs free energy calculations, finding the number of moles in a given mass of a substance, ionization constants, and solving mass-mass stoichiometric problems, among the many abstract subject areas of the current curriculum.  Stoichiometry involves problems in which students are given the amount of one substance in a chemical reaction and are required to calculate the amount of another substance necessary to react completely with the given substance, or the amount of substance produced in the chemical reaction.  These topics are in every high school chemistry book and take up a good part of the curriculum of chemistry.

Most regular track students will not continue in a science oriented major in College, but they do need to obtain a sound introduction to science, which has so many implications and impact on our daily lives.  If this can be accomplished by a revision of the curriculum, it will ground all students in a basic, meaningful understanding of the science and principles of Chemistry as used in our modern, 21st century world. 

While teaching the typical chemistry curriculum over the years I began to research the past by looking at the way chemistry was taught prior to the 1960's.  What I found was an emphasis, not on abstract theoretical topics like those I have discussed above, but rather an emphasis in the important products of the science of chemistry, as well as a surprising topical integration of chemistry with broader environmental and industrial topics.  For example some of the topics covered in the best of older text books, which are absent or scantily treated in our modern curricula are such topics as:

The history of chemistry, the percent composition of the earth, seas, and atmosphere, the use of oxygen in nature and industry, the Nitrogen cycle, the production of hydrochloric, sulfuric, and nitric acids, the purification of water, the uses of chlorine and its compounds, the uses of sodium chloride in industry, the manufacture of glass, fertilizers, explosives, atmospheric gasses and their production, carbon dioxide and global warming, the industrial uses of ammonia and ammonium salts, important forms of carbon, carbon compounds and their use, the thermite reaction in the railroad and shipbuilding industries, iron and copper production, poisonous substances, dyes, and medicines, to name a few.

Decisions relating to Chemistry occur almost daily in our modern society, and students of all backgrounds and interests need a sound and practical understanding of the subject to maintain or improve the quality of their lives in our modern world.

Currently students take a Chemistry curriculum, which is largely based on theories to explain the actions of chemicals under varying conditions or concentrations.  Students are assessed with written tests and engage in a great deal of mathematical and algebraic problem solving relating to solving the theoretical problems which chemistry poses.  The reorientation of the curriculum which I propose, will emphasize the practical side of chemistry and involve learning about the industrial processes that create the many miracle substances that the science produces and their impact on our lives.  The concurrent problems of the chemical industry in producing pollution of the environment and health problems in the people who must be specially protected to work with these substances, would also be explored.  Mathematical problem solving will be kept at a minimum, and students will be required to develop portfolios and cooperative projects with other students in the class, and other schools on the internet. 

I intend to do this by developing a modern textbook oriented as practical texts of the past were.  I am already proceeding in this direction.  The units of text that I have developed to date can be found on my website at:

http://home.att.net/~lfretzin/indexChem/past.html

 

ASSESSMENT ANALYSIS

The assessment consisted of four essay questions, which upon analysis of students' answers gave clear evidence of the need to consider curriculum reform in chemistry.  The four questions are as follows:

1)     Explain exactly what is meant by the symbol H, the symbol O, and the formula H2O?

2)     Is the atomic weight of Helium exactly four times that of Hydrogen?  Explain.

3)     Give two reasons why water extinguishes fire?

4)     If water were to cease sending vapor into the air through evaporation, what changes would result upon the earth's surface?

The first question requires three correct responses.  H represents an atom of Hydrogen, O represents an atom of Oxygen, and H2O represents a molecule of water, consisting of two atoms of Hydrogen bonded to one atom of Oxygen.

This question requires students to recall some simple facts, namely the symbols of two common elements, and of the most widespread compound on earth.  Although a multiple choice test would suffice to test this knowledge, the third response requires a better understanding of the difference between compounds (molecules) and elements.

Of the students tested 84% got the question completely correct, 8 % correctly answered 2 parts of the question, and 8% answered only one part correctly.  None of the students missed the question completely.  This question required students to recall some simple facts. The large percent answering correctly indicates that current curriculum covers this subject matter well.

The second question, (Is the atomic weight of Helium exactly 4 times that of Hydrogen?  Explain.) requires three correct responses.  Students were allowed to use a Periodic table of the elements during the test.  The correct answers are 'no', Helium has an atomic weight of 4.003, while Hydrogen has an atomic weight of 1.008 (4 x 1.008 =  4.032).  The reason is that Hydrogen contains one proton and one electron, while Helium contains two protons, two neutrons, and four electrons.  Although the atomic weight of neutrons and protons are virtually the same, the Helium atom contains only two electrons so its atomic weight is less than four Hydrogen atoms.  Of the students tested, none were able to explain the cause of the difference in mass.  About 30% got one or two of the parts correct, but approximately 40% were unable to answer any aspect of this question.  This question requires students to apply their understanding of sub-atomic particles to explain the discrepancy in weights and therefore bears down on weaknesses in basic analytic ability.

The third question (Give two reasons why water extinguishes fire) requires a two part answer.  First, water smothers a fire, depriving it of the oxygen necessary to sustain combustion, and secondly, water is burnt hydrogen.  Like carbon dioxide the hydrogen in water cannot be further burnt (or oxidized).  In answering this question 56% of the students could not answer it in a satisfactory fashion, 44% got it only half correct and none knew all of the answer.  This question requires students to relate cause and effect, applying the principles of oxidation to a general understanding of burning.  It also requires some fairly basic factual knowledge, namely that hydrogen burns, and that any substance that burns is combining with oxygen in a common chemical reaction releasing energy in the process.  This result clearly indicates a weakness in the current curriculum to enhance the ability of students to make simple analysis of a most basic process in chemistry.

The fourth question was the most difficult of all.  It inquired about the result of a hypothetical change in the physical properties of water.  If water were to cease sending vapor into the air by means of evaporation, what changes would result upon the earth's surface?  This question requires students to apply their knowledge of living organisms and be able to infer the consequences of a series of events upon the environment.  The question tests the application of facts with the ability to see the principle of cause and effect that is active in nature and science.  The question requires a four part answer.  First the air would dry out, secondly rain and snows would cease, thirdly, lakes, rivers and other reservoirs of fresh water would gradually be used up by animals and plants, and finally, life forms on land that are dependent on fresh water supplies would suffer massive extinction.

Approximately 40% of the students tested were unable to answer any aspect of this question correctly, only 40% answered one part correctly, and only 20% answered with two of the correct responses.  It is clear from this result, as well as from the answers to the previous two questions that the curriculum currently taught is not producing the kinds of analytic skills educators would like to see students leave high school with. The students graduate without the ability to apply and integrate the facts of chemistry to causes and effects of economic, industrial, or environmental impact.

 

Assessment of the new curriculum will be made principally by the use of portfolios, group projects and essay question assessments, and will make use of a KWL chart throughout the school year.  The 'know' column will be assessed by using tests related to the new curriculum orientation.  These tests will use more essay questions than questions involving calculation and problem solving.  Some of the type of questions can be found in my assessment assignments for this course.

The want to learn column will be based on surveying students' opinions, wishes, and ideas on the subject that arouse their curiosity, and the learned column will be filled in as the school year proceeds and the direction of student centered learning is documented.

 

KWL CHART FOR A NEW CHEMISTRY

 

Questions - What needs to be researched in project

Know - What the students already know about the questions

Want to Learn - What kinds of inquiry do the students want to make

The traditional subject matter of high school chemistry needs to be challenged for the regular track student.  The effectiveness of teaching chemistry through more relevant subject matter will be researched in a series of projects.  All of the projects will focus on group activities and student initiated study to verify if the approach is effective in instructing students in a sufficient degree of theoretical understanding.  The comprehension of the role of chemistry in industry, society, and the economy, as well as its dark side, viz. roles as a pollution source and use in military weapons will be explored as well.

It is of particular importance to have means available to accurately gauge the degree of the extant of student knowledge about chemistry, as well as their understanding and abilities in mathematics, which is associated with any science.  Knowledge will be obtained directly from student inquiry and other input methods such as informal essays written during class as a frequent assignment, rather than as long term research papers.

The building of a curriculum

that will be effective can be best achieved when the required necessity for reiterative teaching is determined beforehand.

I will have to be especially sensitive to the needs and leaning of my students to correctly determine the kinds of inquiry they want to make.

From my experience, students like hands-on work like laboratories if the work can be related by them with other things they know concerning everyday chemistry, or if the laboratory results are interesting to them or exciting (like making 'slime' or silver and golden pennies.)

Students like to work in groups on different types of projects, especially when they have some input on the subject matter and general approach.

 

 

 

CURRICULUM MAP

 

The Chicago Academic Standards are indicated in parenthesis ( )

The first number of the CAS is the STATE GOAL

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CONTENT

 

Laboratory safety requirements and laboratory equipment (13D1)

 

The metric system readings and lecture.

 

History of Chemistry readings

 

Density and derived units - lecture and assigned readings. (13A7)

 

Readings and lecture on substances and mixtures (12F1)

 

Elemental composition of the earth.  Names and Symbols of Elements (11B1)

ACTIVITIES

 

Identifying equipment

Problem solving with significant digits Internet interactive (11A2)

Laboratory bending glass (13B2)

 

History of chemistry minor project (11B12)

 

Groups solve density problems for various liquids and solids. (13A7)

 

Laboratory activity separating a mysterious mixture of substances (11B1)

 

Internet interactive game on element names and symbols

ASSESSMENT

 

Fill in the blank quiz with pictures of equipment

 

Problem solving metric conversions in groups (11A2)

Presentation of history of chemistry minor project

Presentation of density reports and class critique.

 

 

 

 

 

Quiz on element symbols and names

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Chemical changes (12C2)

 

Physical and chemical changes in chemistry. 

 

The states of matter and the distillation of water (11B7)

 

Lecture and readings on atomic theory (12F1)

 

Radioactivity lecture, demonstrations, and readings (12C1)

Students laboratory changes pennies to 'silver' and 'gold' by chemical changes (11B5)

 

Internet study groups write paper on the 'water cycle' in nature.

 

Internet simulation of Crooke's Cathode Ray Tube (12C1)

 Internet simulation of Rutherford's experiments (11B7)

Student selected miniproject on a selected chemical change used in industry.

Essay type quiz.

 

Student timeline project on the progress of atomic theory from ancient times (13C1)

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The electromagnetic spectrum and emission spectra of the elements - lecture and readings (11B6)

 

Chemical compounds (12C4)

 

The names of compounds and formulas in inorganic chemistry (12C1)

 

Formula weight and percent composition (12C4) lecture and readings

 

The Mole in chemistry lecture and readings (13C1)

Laboratory activity 'Flashing Atomic Colors' - use of the spectrum to analyze elements (11B7)

 

'Specters in the Dark' laboratory to use spectroscopes (11B15)

 

Compound formulas card game challenge of groups (13A7)

 

Binary and Ternary compound formula games on the Internet

 

Getting the water out lab; determines the amount of water in some hydrated chemical compounds (12C4)

 

 

Essay quiz on the spectrum and how it can be used

 

 

 

Writing compound formulas for common compounds

 

Writing the names and formulas of common chemicals

 

Calculating formula weights from chemical formulas

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The electrolysis of water (12E2) lecture and demonstration.

 

Production of Hydrogen,

Fuel cells and electricity production.

 

Water and its purification. The water cycle(13A7)

 

The composition of water and hydrogen peroxide - the Law of Multiple proportions (11B14)

Internet research on the discovery and production of Hydrogen

 

Laboratory production of hydrogen from zinc and acid (12B6)

 

Research groups on municipal water topics - field trip(12C4)

 

Determining the composition of water by weight

Student group project select of choose a subject about hydrogen and its uses in the past and future (13C3)

 

Selected topic on water purification methods, world wide conservation, and needs assessment