Chemistry for gifted children in the intermediate grades - Journal of

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edited by PATRICIA J. SMITH United States Air Academy High Schwl United States Air Academy. CO 80840

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Chemistry for Gifted Children in the Intermediate Grades Dorothy Gabel Indiana University, Bloomington. IN 47405

Table 1. Course Outllne for Beglnnlng Chernlstry

When gifted children entering the intermediate grades (P

6) are asked what a chemist studies or what they think that they will study in chemistry, they generate a list of things such as the following: hydrogen, explosions, color changes, oxygen, gases, air, matter, elements, sulfur, and acids. When a chemist is asked what is studied in chemistry, thereply will more likelv be: matter:, eases. .liauids. andsolids: or elements. compounds, and mixtures. dhildien in t h e elementary school do not see chemistry as encompassing the world around them. They do not classify materials into neat categories such as solids, liquids, and gases or elements, compounds, and mixtures. Instead, chemistry is fragmented. If children define chemistry as the study of matter, you can almost be guaranteed that they have memorized this response. Very few know that matter has mass and volume, &d even feker have a conceptual understanding of these terms. One might ask whv students have such a f r a w e n t e d view of chemistry. Why do they give answers that repeat words that have little or no meaning to them? Two probable reasons are:

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1) Most children do not study chemistry in school. Whatever

chemical knowledge they have, they acquired outside the classroom in hits and pieces. Mwt elementary teachers have little or no chemistrv backmound. and what chemistrv . thev . have had presented to them on the college level they frequently have not understood. If chemistry is presented by these teachers to children, it is frequentlytaught in an unorganized manner. 2) Because elementary teachers do not have a good chemistry background they are afraid to do the simple chemistry exoeriments that amear in elementarv science texts. Usually Ehemistry is readibout. At most, experiments in the text become demonstrations done by the teacher or by a small group of children who do them for the rest of the class. As a result some children are turned off by science. By the fourth grade, many children perceive science as dull and boring, a subject to be avoided. After all, who wants to memorize term after term? For the past two summers, a program has been in progress a t Rosary College, River Forest, Illinois (a Chicago suburb) that has given gifted, intermediate-grade children a n opportunity to become involved in the study of chemistry. Children attend a one-week session from 900 t o 300 daily for introductory or advanced chemistry. Enrollment is limited to 20 children per class. Each course is built on the following principles: 1) Chemistry isbest Learned by seeinganddoingratherthan by

reading and listening. 2) Experiments should teach concepts and motivate children to study chemistry an their own rather than convey the idea that "chemistry is magic'' 702

Journal of Chemical Education

Time ~~~d~~ 900

9:30 10:30 1230 1:15 200 Tuesday 9:oo 9:30 t0:oo 1230 1:30 Wednesday 9:oo

1o:oo 11:oo 11:30 l:oo

Topic or Experiment what is chemistry? Ice cube melting contest and histograms Mass and volume of water Making graphs Changing states-Boiling Freon in a Baggle* Bunsen burner and bending glass Really cold-liquid nlbogen SoIution~definiti~n and kinds Separatmg ink solutions (chromatography) Solutions and crystals Growing crystals The elements and their symbols Flame tests forthe elemems Line spectra of the elements Growing crystals Electrolysis of water

Thursday

9:OO t0:oo 10:45 l:oo

Elements. compounds. and mixtures: Fe and S Chemical formulas Chemical changes Mystery powders

Friday

9:OO

9:30 10:30 1:00 1:15 200

Ice cube preservation contest Fast and slow reaction: iodine clock Making graphs and interpreting data Ice cube preservation contest Defining acids and bases Making natural indicators

3) The integrated science process skills should be taught as well as the simple process skills. 4) Macroscopic properties of matter are more important than microscopic properties for children of this age level so chem-

istry should he approached from the macroscopicviewpoint. 5) Chemistryconeeptshuild on one another and this should be

reflected in the curriculum. Tables 1and 2 give the course content, sequence, and the amount of time spent on each activity for the beginning and advanced courses. These course syllabi show how the above five princides were utilized in the teachina- of each of the courses. Experlrnents versus Lecture

For the beginning course, 14% of the time was spent in lecturing and for the advanced course, 4%. For the most part, the lectures included demonstrations. So even then children

Table 2. Course Outllne for Advanced Chemlstn Time Monday 9:OO 9:30 10:30 1245 1:45 Tuesday $00

10:15 1t:OO 11:30 1245

1:30 200

Wednesday 9:OO 10:15 11:OO 1245

1:30 Thursday 9:oo 1o:oo t1:oo 1245 1:30 Friday 9:oo $45 It45

1245 1:45

Topic or Experiment Substances: elements and compounds Elements: sulfur Melting and freezinga substance Chemical gems Properties of crystals Chemical dissolving race Surface area and volume Chemical gems Bending glass Boiling a substance Graphing Separating substances by distillation Recognlring chemical reactions Mass change in chemical reactions? identifvina . " Woes .. of reactionslbalancina eouations Sugar cube dissolving contest Reactions of metals with saiutiona Preparing an aci6base indicatof Neubalimtion and acid strengm Acidity of some common substances Does diluting changethe pH? Which antacid is best? Making soap Using soaps and detergents Speeding up reactions Graphing the clock reaction Chemical detective

were seeing matter changing rather than reading about it. For the remaining time children were engaged in preparing for experiments, performing the experiments, or discussing the experimental results. Experlrnents Teach Concepts The experiments that children performed in both courses were related to concept building rather than simply doing an experiment to excite them about the study of chemistry. Exoeriments were selected. however. that children enioved " and found fascinating. In the introductory course, some of the more exciting-exoeriments were boiling Freonmin a ~ l a s . tic bag, chromatography, and the iodine clock reaction. Amone the favorite activities used in the advanced chemistry class were growing crystals, universal indicator experiment, and the preparation of soap.

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ldegrated Process Skllls In teaching chemistry a t the elementary level, there is a temptation t o concentrate on the simple process skills rather than to include the integrated ones. Most experiments and demonstrations will involve havine children make observations, inferences, predictions, and control variables. At the intermediate level. children should be introduced to more cnmplrx sk~llssurh as graph constructinn and ~nterpreation and teitinz- h\wotheaes. Gifted children at this are level are -in the transition from concrete to f ~ r m a l o ~ e r a t i o ireasonal ing. They should he given an opportunity to exercise these skills. Several of the experiments in each course required higher level reasoning skills and the use of the integrated science skills such as graphing data. Macroscopic Properties It might seem im~ossihleto teach chemistrv without talking about atoms and molecules, but the entire introductory rotme is taught without mentioning them. The tirnt pnint where atomsdhould he introduced ;s in the electrolysis of

water. Children recognize that twice as much hydrogen is collected as oxygen. Some will realize that this is why the formula for water is written as H-two-0. In the introductory course, students are told that there are two parts (in this case volume) of hydrogen for one part of oxygen. They appear perfectly satisfied with this explanation. In fact, other formulas are given and interpreted in the introductory course. However, the interpretation is always given in terms of Darts. In theadvanced course,atomsare mentioned as the smallest particle of an element. They are introduced with the first experiment in the discussim of how five different allotopic formsotsulfur can exist. Thev are used in the interpretat~on of formulas and in the balancing of equations. his is really the only mention made of them for the entire week. When children do not know the difference between volume and mass, surface area and volume, melting and dissolving, solutions and substances, melting and boiling points, it seems more relevant to concentrate on these concepts that can be demonstrated on the macroscooic level and that are more concrete. After all, chemists did quite a bit of chemistry before thev were able to e x ~ l a i ni t using atoms and molecules. If students have the proper expe;imental base with concrete materials, atoms and molecules make more sense when they are introduced at a more advanced level. Contlnulty of Concepts Chemistry is a science in which there is a hierarchy of concepts. Although all chemists may not agree on the exact order in the hierarchy, all would agree that chemistry is organized and that one concept huilds on another. This premise was used in the construction of these two courses for elementary children and is reflected in the course syllabi. The introductory course begins with the definition of matter, proceeds through changes in state, studies the elements, then compounds, and chemical reactions. The progression of the concepts was Matter has mass and volume. Matter has three states. Matter can be changed from one state to another. Preparation of solutions and mixtures. Solutions can be separated. Crystals grow when the solvent evaporates. Matter is made of elements. Differentelements have different properties. Elements combine to form compounds. Com~oundscan he deeomoosed. Elementa and compounds ran react chrmirnlly. Suhstanres can he id~ntifiedthrough their reactions. Chemical reactions can be speeded up. Chemicals can he defined and classifiedby their reactions. ~~~

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The sequence of major concepts in the advanced course was Matter is made up of elements, compounds, and mixtures. Elements can exist in more than one form. Suhstanees have definite freezing points. Suhstanees freauentlv ~. .have a crvstalline structure. C'r).stuls dissolve at different rates. Rale of dissolving depends un tempprsture and surface area. Pure substances have definite hoilmg point$. Solutions can he separated by boiling. ~

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This feature is designed to encourage our readers to become involved in some way with introducing chemistry to children. Methods. techniques,and ideas that have proven successful will be featwed. We wish to challenge those of you who have interacted with chemisny and kids to Share your prcgram with the rest of the readers. We funher challenge those who have not made the first step to use these programs to develop a system that will work far you and the kids in your community. Responses of the children to the activities would be of particular interest. In lhis way. this feature can provide mechanisms for introducing mwe chemistry to children and thus society. Volume 62

Number 8

August 1985

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703

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Com~oundsand elements react with one another. hlas\ is nmrrn.cd in chemical reacrions. ('hrwicil rrorrimr ran be reprrsrnred hg rhemical rquarions. ('rrrain elrmrnrs are more dct:vr than uthtrs. IZP Acida I I ~ I I I ~ R ~ ha5es. Diluting acid- nnd hares chanyrs their pH. .\marids nrurrnlizr aridr diffrrrnrially. Soap is a chemical. Reactions can he speeded up. Reactions can he used to identify chemicals. ~~~

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This latter sequence assumes that children know that matter has mass and volume and begins with the elements. The course reviews changes of state and emphasizes that each

704

Journal of Chemical Education

substance has a distinct set of physical and chemical properties by which it can be identified. It proceeds to chemical reactions, and their representation by chemical equations. Acids and bases are studied in somewhat more detail than in the introductory course. Soap is prepared as an example of a practical substance that is made from chemicals, and the control of chemical reactions is illustrated. In both of these one-weekcoursesfor gifted children in the intermediate grades there are no tests, just a lot of experimentation and thought-provoking discussions. The children love what they are learning. In fact, almost half of the first group returned for a second year to take the advanced course.