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PUBLICATION INFORMATION

TITLE OF PUBLICATION

FIRST APPROACH TO THE PERIODIC TABLE OF ELEMENTS - A HISTORICAL-EPISTEMOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE TEACHING OF CHEMISTRY (PRIMO INCONTRO CON LA TAVOLA PERIODICA DEGLI ELEMENTI – UN APPROCCIO STORICO EPISTEMOLOGICO ALL’INSEGNAMENTO DELLA CHIMICA)

NAME OF AUTHOR(S)

Alberto Regis, Ezio Roletto

NAME OF PUBLISHER

CnS La Chimica nella Scuola

YEAR OF PUBLICATION

2004

LANGUAGE OF PUBLICATION

Italian

PUBLICATION TYPOLOGY

Report

TARGET GROUP OF PUBLICATION

Researchers, Teachers

SIZE OF THE PUBLICATION

3 – 10 pages

DESCRIPTION OF CONTENTS

It is frequently suggested that the history of chemistry can
be used in teaching the subject on the account of supposed
parallels between the learning process and the development
of science. This idea is put into practice in the teaching
sequence described in this paper, aimed at bringing highschool
students to build up the foundations of the periodic
table of the elements. Learning situations are based on
thought provoking problems concerning the macroscopic
properties of simple substances: to answer these questions,
students may refer to the same informations used by
Mendeleev to build up the principle of periodicity. The
learning situations bring the students to deal also with two
important chemical concepts: those of simple substance and
element which are frequently confused in teaching.
The sequence presented in this article has been tested over several years in several classes and essentially aims to bring students to "rebuild" the backbone of the periodic table, reasoning on the same chemical information that was available to Mendeleev: the atomic weights of the elements and the physical and chemical properties of some simple substances and compounds. The historical approach has the advantage of making students retrace the intellectual path of Mendeleev, highlighting the difficulties and the various hypotheses that were subsequently deemed acceptable or rejected.
As a first activity, each student is provided with a sheet of paper format A21 and a set of nineteen cards on the following elements: potassium, hydrogen, lithium, boron, beryllium, magnesium, aluminum, bromine, chlorine, sulfur, sodium, calcium, silicon, oxygen, fluorine, arsenic, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus. Then, the following delivery is assigned: “order, in the way you think more appropriate, the cards you received, pasting them on the sheet of paper. On the same sheet, write, in
order of importance, the criteria used to order the cards”.
The subsequent activities, which are described in detail in the publication, aimes to improve the first draft of the periodic table built by the students, using new information, the guidance of the teacher, the work in small groups and the comparison between the different views.
Finally, the inclusion of new elements in this periodic table leads to verify the criterion used to sort the elements and to discover the concept of periodicity.

REVIEWER’S COMMENTS ON THE PUBLICATION

The approach described in the paper was readily accepted by most of the students, who become involved by problematic questions which require them to think, reflect, reason, make predictions and draw conclusions.
Offering students the opportunity to work in first person to the development of the structure of the periodic table, as Mendeleev did, allow them to build the concept of periodicity in the operating mode, as a result of a personal path to the knowledge.
From the point of view of science education, the historical setting is much more educational than the traditional one, in which knowledge is systematized and where you forget all the attempts of other scientists, the different approaches and the first inconsistencies.
The specific disciplinary knowledge and the learning objectives have been achieved in a satisfactory way.

WHERE TO FIND IT

http://www.soc.chim.it/sites/default/files/users/div_didattica/PDF/2004-5.pdf

PDF OF THE PUBLICATION

33_2004-5.pdf

NAME OF THE REVIEWING ORGANISATION

University of Genoa

Comments about this Publication

Your comments are welcome

Date: 2014.04.07

Posted by Françoise Derwa (Belgium)

Message: This publication describes how students successfully improved their understanding in the creation of the periodic table of elements. This is quite relevant in providing with new teaching solutions, as it is structured in two different aspects: the first aspect is related to the way students appropriate chemistry theories through a very personalized elaboration of chemistry concepts. The second aspect is related to the historical setting of chemistry studies, as students go through the concept of periodicity starting from empirical data and then going to a microscopic level. The teacher wants to clarify the difference between empirical reality and the interpretation of a structured microscopic model.
The method of teaching consists in asking students to build the periodic table of elements by placing all the elements in the right position, following specific criteria and priorities such as the physical status, the atomic weight and the alphabetical order. The activity is followed by a test where students are asked to answer general questions about the elements.
The publication presents a major critical factor: often students do not understand the difference between the description of an empirical situation in terms of events and its description in terms of microscopic models. This is due to the fact that in scientific publications where scientists expose their work, no attempt or previous effort put in their activity is shown. This is the main reason why students do not know what is behind the results of scientific experiments, which is often a long work made of mistakes, unsuccessful attempts and negative results. The teaching method shown in this publication offers the students the possibility to directly experiment the real work of the scientists. This can be considered quite useful for the students to develop further skills and a deeper knowledge in chemistry activities.
However it does not provide the reader with any specific advice on the use of ICT in this methodology.

Date: 2014.03.24

Posted by Alzbeta Jantova (Czech Republic)

Message: 1) Which kind of successful experience does the publication describe?
According to the description of content and reviewer’s comment on the publication the article deals with historical-epistemological approach to the teaching of chemistry.
2) Why is this publication relevant?
The publication shows how to bring students to \"rebuild\" the backbone of the periodic table. Students get informations that was available to Mendeleev and they try to build the periodic table alone. They actively learn the curriculum through a problematic questions which require them to think, reflect, reason, make predictions and draw conclusions. Students can discover the concept of periodicity. It could help to motivate students to be interested in it.
3) Does the publication suggest how to use ICTs in teaching of chemistry?
It is not necessary to use ICTs in this teaching methodology (Mendeleev also did not use ICTs to build the periodic table).
4) Why is this publication relevant?
I find this article useful and relevant to the Chemistry is all around us- network project. The publication presents interesting method of teaching the periodic table and describe how to use it in practice. It would be nice to read the whole article in English because it is very interesting topic.

National Reports on successful experiences to promote lifelong learning for chemistry The national reports on chemistry successful experiences to promote lifelong learning for chemistry are now available on the related section of the project portal. The reports presents examples of successful experiences in the partner countries and the results of testing of ICT resources with science teachers.