General chemistry students as demonstrators in ... - ACS Publications

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LINDAWOODWARD m e University of Southwestern Louisiana Lafayene, LA 70504

General Chemistry Students as Demonstrators in Elementary Schools Jeanne Robinson Seminole Community College, Sanford, FL 32773

Seminole County has attempted to address the deficiencies of science education a t the elementary level in several ways. Our planetarium is popular for field trips. Workshops are held for elementary teachers, allowing them to earn continuing education credits and eventually to become their schools' science specialists.' A paper presented by Howard Moore a t an ACS Florida Section meetine i n s ~ i r e dthe oroeram described in this paper (I).Moore described a iatcer comprehensive proeram of visits to elementarv schools. usine eraduate students, upper-level undergraduates, and i&t&ctors as his travelling demonstrators. The first group of Seminole Community College students to be a part of the elementary schools visitation program was required to do so as a part of General Chemistry I1 lab. The students were allowed to choose the school to be visited, the time and day of the visit, the grade level, and the experiments that they would do. Arrangements were made by the author. Activities were chosen, and sometimes modified, from Alyea, Shakhashiri, Dreyfus materials, etc. (24). The students used one lab period to try various experiments and to decide with the author's approval what they would present a t the schools. Students worked in pairs, with each pair presenting their demonstrations for two consecutive elementarv classes, usually of about 24 students each. We diswurage& schools from trvine to comhine several classes for our visits, because wegave all pupils some hands-on experience. The visits were a meat success. Word ctuicklv suread and requests began pou&tgin from through&t thhebunty and beyond. For the second round of visits, some modifications were made in the program. The most important was the acquisition of a mini grant from Seminole Community . ~ paid for supplies and some College's SPD p ~ o g r a mThis

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'This program is supported by a Florida Higher Education Grant to Strengthen Programs in Mathematics and Science Education under Title II, Education for Economic Security. Weeklong workshops are team-tauahtbv Seminole Communitv Colleae Drofessors and "master teachers"from idhiied the- Countv Sci~ - - ~~ - the - elementaw - ,schdols. -- -~ bv ~, --ence ~oordinaror.Tne teachers who atrend the workshods i i e awarded a st pena, proviaed oy the Semino e County Scnool System. The grant prov des sa aries and a so eqJipmenr mat tne teacnerstake back with them to their home schools. Most teachers attend two workshops-one in astronomy and one in physical science. 'Staff and Program Development. An award in the amount of $785 was oranted for a Droiect entitled "Chemistrv Demonstrations at Elemen& ~chools,"io dover supplies and a $500 stlpend fortheproject coordinator. ~~~

salary for the author, who served as program coordinator. The students this second semester were given the option of visiting an elementary school or working on an in-lab experiment taken from this Journnl. Eighty percent of the class opted to visit the schools. Subsequent semesters have shown this same pattern of choice. Previous experiences were shared with these students. They were each then expected to fmd and try one new experiment to add to the "bag of tricks", as well as to try for themselves any of the earlier experiments that they wanted to do. SPD again funded the program for 1989-1990. During this school vear. General Chemistm I students also were given the oppokunity to take park Volunteers were allowed to wunt their school visit in lace of one of their lab quizzes. Because of the large number of requests, we have decided to confine our visits to second-grade classes. We make slime on all visits (5).We enlist the teacher's help in distributing materials and in supervising the students. Scheduling is now handled by a group of school volunteers, Dividends, who also publicize the program in their annual brochure. Because we are now making our visits under their auspices, our qualms about potential liability in the case of accidents are somewhat alleviated. The college students choose two other demonstrations or activities with which to open and close their programs. We have successfullv used maeic s i m (lettered with ~henolphthalein, sprayed with sodium bicarbonate), bry ice (placed in water so that students could handle it with insulated gloves), styrofoam peanuts (dissolved in acetone), to name a few. Soecific directions for our "bae of tricks." which also are-given to each demonstrator, are available from the author upon request. As the program ends its third full year, some spinoffs are apparent. College students think that this is fun. A few have expressed interest in teaching. Some have arranged to helo teachers with after-school oroerams. We have made a big hit with ail ofthe elementary students who write thank you notes saving thines like, When I go to college I want tb take chemist6 so that I c.an visit schools and make slime."

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662

Journal of Chemical Education

Literature Cited

3. ShaLhashili. B. Ckm~lDpmonstrntions:AXondbmkfarTpoehhofCkmistry, Vol. 1,University ofWieeonain Preaa. Madison, WI, 1983. 4 . Camilla and Hmru Drwfus Institute Curriculum Model 1984. W d m w When National Fd;ndation, Plmceton, NJ, 1984 5. Sarquls. A. M. J Ck~rn. Edue, 19% 67. a.