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Process skills practiced over the course of students' academic careers develop solid understanding of all science fields.
by Kimberly S. Lightle, ENC Instructional Resources
When we think of chemists, we probably picture adults in white coats, performing research most of us couldn't begin to understand. In many cases, this is true. At the same time, chemists are working on things that we use every day: lipstick, paint...even ice cream!
But chemistry doesn't start in the research lab. It starts in grade school—or at least it should, according to the National Science Education Standards. And believe it or not, there are activities for making ice cream at each grade band! See Teaching Activities to locate several sample activities.
The descriptions of chemistry-related topics are found within the Physical Science Content Standard at each grade band. The standards include the content to be learned as well as the appropriate ways in which the child should experience the learning.
Elementary chemistry learning starts with a macroscopic world of observable phenomena, as students progress, they move to the microscopic world of molecules, atoms, and subatomic particles and the symbolic and mathematical world of chemical formulas, equations, and symbols.
In the elementary grades, students study the properties of matter and the classification of substances using easily observable properties. In the middle grades, they examine change of state, solutions, and simple chemical reactions. They develop the knowledge and experience to define the properties of chemicals and elements. Laboratory investigation of the properties of substances and their changes through various chemical interactions provide a basis for the high school student to understand diverse types of chemical reactions and their applications.
The standards provide more than just a list of process skills appropriate for each grade band. The process skills are introduced as the abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry. These developmentally appropriate proficiencies are not specific to chemistry but should guide how all science content is experienced by students.
In the elementary grades, for instance, students begin to develop the physical and intellectual abilities of scientific inquiry. They can design investigations with different materials to see what happens; however, children in K-4 have difficulty with experimentation as a process of testing ideas and with the logic of using evidence to formulate explanations. Children at these grades can still:
- Ask a question
- Plan and conduct simple investigations
- Employ science equipment and tools to gather data and extend the senses
- Use data to construct a reasonable explanation
- Communication investigations and explanations
In grades 5-8, students can begin to recognize the relationship between explanations and evidence. However, students at this age tend to concentrate on evidence that confirms their current beliefs and concepts. It is important for teachers at the middle grades to challenge students' preconceptions and understanding of ideas and provide scientific explanations as alternatives. That being said, children at the middle grades can still:
- Identify questions that can be answered through scientific investigations
- Design and conduct a scientific investigation
- Use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data
- Develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models using evidence
- Think critically and logically to identify the relationships between evidence and explanation
- Recognize and analyze alternative explanations and predictions
- Communicate scientific procedures and explanations
- Use mathematics in all aspects of scientific inquiry
As students reach high school they should be much more sophisticated in their abilities and understandings of scientific inquiry. Students should be much more able to understand that experiments are guided by concepts and are performed to test ideas. Some students will still have trouble with variables and controlled experiments. Many still have trouble dealing with data that seem anomalous and proposing explanations based on evidence and logic rather than on their prior beliefs about the natural world. Students at this level should be able to:
- Identify questions and concepts that guide scientific investigations
- Design and conduct scientific investigations
- Use technology and mathematics to improve investigations and communications
- Formulate and revise scientific explanations and models using logic and evidence
- Recognize and analyze alternative explanations and models
- Communicate and defend a scientific argument
All of these process skills build on the ones that come before. Students need to be exposed to developmentally appropriate learning experiences at all grade levels in their science classes.
Kimberly S. Lightle is ENC's associate director for Instructional Resources and director of the Learning Matrix and FEDRL, two of the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) initiatives at ENC. She is a former high school chemistry teacher. Email: .
Image credit: Thank you to Dr. Kim Baldridge, San Diego Supercomputer Center, for creating the tryptophan molecule for use in this issue of ENC Focus. Ice cream image © Photodisc.
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