Teaching Resources

Pictograms and Chemical Products

F.Tessier

Downloadable material

Basic

Fundamental Chemistry

Lower Secondary School

French

Yes

Please describe the teaching resource taking into consideration:

• Contents and aims

Prevention the chemistry laboratory is essential to a secure experimental practice. Students must be made aware of safety instructions before the first lab work. One topic of the prevention is reflexive reading of the chemical products labels in the laboratory. On the labels are danger signs the most visual elements on the label.

This resource allows discovering in an interactive way the danger signs of chemical products regularly used in the laboratory. Since currently used pictograms are being replaced by new ones (applied since 2010), this application is useful to make the transition easier.
• Task Description

In the “sommaire” (“contents”) tab of the resource, the various activities can be discovered. These are entitled:
1. Introduction
2. I discover the common pictograms
3. I make sure I can identify the pictograms
4. I discover the new pictograms
5. I review which pictograms replace the old ones.
6. Chemical products labels in the laboratory

In the first part “introduction”, the student is placed in a learning context.
An acidity regulator label is presented to focus the attention on danger signs. This example makes sense since it this object is used every day by students.

The second part allows students discovering the meaning of the pictograms clicking on them. The language used is simplified and adapted to the student.

In the third part, the student can practice and check their knowledge of the pictograms meaning.

Then, in the 4fourth part, they discover new danger signs trying to associate the new version to the old one.

The fifth part is a structuration of what has been discovered. Indeed, the student can be review the correspondence between old and new pictograms.

Finally, the last part acquaints the student with another type of pictograms:
Security equipment.

• How to use it in class

This resource can be used in a multimedia room to bring the students to discover danger signs by themselves or in group.
The teacher can also project the interactive module to the class with a video projector to structure knowledge.
It can also be used as a documentary resource during lab sessions or in remediation.

Please provide information about:

• Points of strength

The language used is adapted to lower secondary students.
The resource is easily accessible. It can be used:
- via the internet on the “Espace pédagogique” of Académie de Nantes
- downloading it to install it on the school website or on an e-learning platform
Moreover, the student can used it at home for remediation or to review the pictograms.

• Points of weakness.
The labels discovery is not complete. Learning the meaning of risks and security sentences could be added.

• Scientific reliability: the resource does not present all the new pictograms. However, scientific reliability is satisfying for students who begin in chemistry.

• Pedagogic value

This tool is interesting for it offers various uses regarding work organisation as well as regarding learning moments (see above). It could also complete a more concrete work based on a reading of the chemical products labels of the laboratory (but also products at home).

HELMO Ste Croix- Inforef