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Science comes into the Scottish 5 to 14 National Guidelines
under the heading Environmental Studies. The nine year plan
(seven in primary, two in secondary) covers levels A (lowest)
to E (highest) and includes almost no chemistry in the primary
range. Staff in our prep school were keen to include chemistry
in the curriculum designed for their final year so the Chemistry
Department wrote 10 approx. one hour lessons.
The themes are observation, terminology and particles.
Resources include Concept Cartoons, That's Chemistry
(RSC) and The nature of science (RSC).
Primary staff had concerns regarding their ability to use
the correct terminology and deliver the course accurately,
so workshops were arranged to introduce the course to the
staff; about 25% of the course notes are explanations for
the staff.
The aim is to make all pupils aware that matter is made
up of very small particles; the way the particles are arranged
means the substance is a solid, liquid or a gas. To illustrate
this we race liquids (oil, syrup, water, tomato ketchup,
etc.) down an inclined plane, balance balloons on a mobile,
stretch balloons over the mouth of a bottle and stand the
bottle in hot water, put bicarbonate of soda into a balloon,
attach it to a bottle containing vinegar, shake the solid
into the liquid and stand back. We take the top off a bottle
of cola then stand it on a balance, use Alka-Seltzer tablets
to "explode" 35mm film canisters, use carbon dioxide to
put a candle out, use air pressure to crush plastic bottles
and have lots of paper exercises involving reading scales,
thermometers, measuring cylinders, stop-clocks etc. The
terms "precise" and "accurate" are explained using a dart-board
and there is a section on "choosing the equipment". We then
have several investigations, e.g. a crystal of permanganate
in gel and one in warm water, what do you see and why does
it happen?
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