TEACHING RESOURCES INFORMATION
TITLE OF TEACHING RESOURCE
Chemical Compound of the Month
NAME OF AUTHOR(S)
Valavanidis Athanasios, Efstathiou Constantinos (Eds.)
NAME OF PRODUCER
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
DATE OF PRODUCTION
2012 (starting 2006)
TYPE OF PRODUCT
Web Site/Portal
LEVEL OF CHEMISTRY KNOWLEDGE
Advanced
PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH
Peer education
SUBJECT AREA
Life Chemistry, Materials Science, Food Science, History of Chemistry, Health Science, Industrial Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry
TARGET GROUP LEVEL
Upper Secondary School
LANGUAGE/S OF TEACHING RESOURCES
Greek
DESCRIPTION
Prerequisites: This teaching resource does not require any special software for functioning and has free access.
Contents and Task Description: The teaching resource is a collection of informative pages on different chemical compounds. This material has not been designed as a typical teaching resource, it can however be used as one. The material is available at the web site of the University of Athens (Department of Chemistry) and it consists of several pages since there is a reference to a specific chemical compound for every month, starting from April 2006). For each specific “chemical compound of the month” this resource provides an extensive range of information related not only to its physicochemical properties, but also to its numerous applications in different aspects of human life. The hypertext contains several hot words with links to additional information, a rich collection of pictures and interesting graphs and also a collection of additional bibliographic references. The resource deals with a very large range of compounds: From simple small molecules like carbon monoxide or ozon to complex molecules like adrenaline, dioxin, aspirin, nicotin and insulin.
Aims: The educational material aims in bringing out the connection of chemistry with other scientific fields and the presence of Chemistry in numerous aspects of our everyday lives. It also aims in highlighting the position of Chemistry in historical time and its contribution (mostly positive) to human culture and civilization. In this way, the material aims further in attracting students’ attention and in motivating them to engage in learning more about the world of chemistry and in this way develop an inquiring mind.
Use in class: The material provided can be incorporated in the class practice in different ways. For example, it is a rich source of information for small projects that the students can work on (either alone or in teams). In addition the teacher can show the very interesting pictures in order to make the lesson more attractive, or he/she can make use of the available information for starting discussions and give the signal for further inquiry.
COMMENTS
This material is a rich source of information related with applications of chemistry in everyday life. Even though the text is a little too long (contains a lot of words), the language employed is quite simple, without sacrificing scientific reliability. The parallel use of colour pictures makes the material more attractive and more useful for application in class. Another important positive aspect, is that the material can be used for supporting the teaching of different chemistry subjects: organic, inorganic, physical, biophysical and fundamental chemistry. Even though the material can be a little intimidating for the average secondary school student, certain parts of it can be easily followed via careful teacher guidance.
NAME OF THE REVIEWING ORGANISATION
TEI of Ionian Islands
Comments about this Publication
Your comments are welcome
Date: 2012.09.27
Posted by Paulo Ribeiro Claro (Portugal)
Message: The main idea behind “The molecule of the month” is worthful in several ways, namely in its capacity to present new information every month and create a regular audience interested in chemistry.
The information provided is abundant, the topics covered are interesting and sometimes very appealing, and the language is simple, although not easily accessible for all chemistry students.
The material can be used in several chemistry subjects, but requires teacher guidance, at least for early secondary school students.
Despite its qualities, there is a drawback for this resource, as it is: in the long term, it will probably become a huge collection of “molecules of the month”, somewhat similar to a web encyclopaedia but without its advantages: organization, cross-linking, frequent update, and so on… and that will seriously limit its usefulness. Some planning is recommended in order to avoid this end.
