Teaching Resources

Science in School – Greek, Chemistry

Various authors

EIROforum

2006 - on going

Web Site/Portal, Electronic Journal

Basic, Medium

Cooperative learning, Peer education, Experiential learning

Fundamental Chemistry, Life Chemistry, Materials Science, Food Science, History of Chemistry, Health Science, Environmental Chemistry

Primary School, Lower Secondary School, Upper Secondary School

Greek

Yes

Prerequisites: The material in the site is available freely and no additional special software needs to be downloaded for functioning.

Contents and Task Description: This is a European site which contains didactic material in the form of articles, in several science topics originally written in English by holders of a degree in some science related subject and who are somehow involved in science education (secondary school teachers, university professors, researchers, etc). Several articles have been translated in different languages and Greek is one of them. More specifically, there are in total 29 articles which are available in Greek and they are related with chemistry education. These articles are divided in four categories: a) Teaching activities (10), b) Science topics (11), c) Cutting-edge science (4) and d) Science education projects (4). Some of the very interesting topic themes are the following: antioxidants in foods, experiments with carbon dioxide in primary education, science theatre, forensic science, ozone layer, make your own microscope, study of protein crystals, climate change, measuring radon radiation at home, the colours of famous paintings, citric acid in chewing gum etc.
The articles are in general organized in the following way: At first a general introduction is given via the use of text and images. The information provided is scientifically sound and often many connections to everyday life applications are provided. Subsequently, specific experimental (or other) activities to be performed in a real classroom are provided. Specific advice is provided in order to aid the science teacher to successfully implement the activity. A series of references is provided. It is important that the references are not only other websites but also actual publications in peer review journals. In the end there is always a special section named “Review” in which other science educators express their opinion on the material presented in the article and give additional practical advice on the different ways it could be incorporated in the class practice.

Aims: This teaching resource aims in bringing out the multiple connections of chemistry with other sciences and with real life applications and experiences. It aims in motivating teachers to present chemistry from a new more attractive and creative perspective and in this way help their students develop the scientific approach of thinking.

Use in class: The material can be used in class in different ways. Except of the actual realization of the proposed laboratory activities, the teacher can use specific pieces of the available information for initiating creative discussions and for assigning short term projects. The section “Review” in the end of each article is very useful in providing interesting ideas and directions for use of the activities in class.

This teaching resource contains a series of very useful articles dealing with interesting chemistry topics that bring out the connection of chemistry with other sciences and with everyday life phenomena and experiences. The material is produced by scientific experts and it is presented in a simplified but scientifically sound manner. The overall presentation (language used, images etc) is very attractive and it achieves in firstly motivating the teacher to discover new ways for making science teaching more enjoyable for him/her and subsequently for the students. The teaching activities proposed are often very original and aim in developing creativity and the inquiring approach of thinking. The resource contains teaching material which is suitable for a very large age range (primary, lower secondary and upper secondary school). It is important that a lot of practical advice is provided for helping the teacher incorporating the material in the class practice. The translations in Greek are of very good quality.

TEI of Ionian Islands