Teaching Resources

Carbon B

Giannakoudakis, A.; Kousathana, M.; Bekiaris, N.; Nalbadis, K.; Salta, K.; Sigalas, M.; Tzougraki, C.; Charistos, N.

Greek Ministry of Education, Lifelong Learning and Religious Affairs

2007

Downloadable software, Downloadable material

Basic, Medium

Cooperative learning, Problem solving, Peer education, Modelling

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

Lower Secondary School, Upper Secondary School

Greek

Yes

Prerequisites: The educational material available at this site is available freely. Twelve (of the 25) teaching units require downloading (and installing) new software which is however available. The rest require only Microsoft Excel or they are directly executable by clicking on an .exe file.

Contents and Task Description: This is an integrated educational package specifically designed for aiding the secondary school chemistry teacher incorporate new technologies in chemistry education. It consists of a total of 25 teaching units which are related with fundamentals as well as everyday life applications of carbon chemistry. The subjects covered are specifically the following: nutrition, blood alcohol levels, isomerization, hydrocarbons, polymers, renewable energy sources, proteins, fats, alcohol fermentation, air pollutants. Each teaching unit consists of a part which is executed by the students in the computer (simulated laboratory activity, modelling, calculations, graph creation) and a part which is executed on paper after the realization of the computer activity (assessment exercises). A list of separate files is made available to the teacher for each teaching unit. This list involves detailed teaching plan, student worksheet, student evaluation sheet as well as useful practical advice and directions for successful implementation of the educational package in the teaching practice.

Aims: The material aims in developing the analytical and quantitative skills of students by making use of new technologies and in making the student accustomed to laboratory practice via the use of simulated lab activities. The activities also bring out the connection of chemistry with everyday life applications and phenomena. In this way, the material aims to increase student motivation to learn and study chemistry and science in general.

Use in class: The material is specifically designed for use in the class practice. Depending on the availability of computer terminals, students are organized in small teams and they are encouraged to engage in specific activities such as virtual laboratory experiments, graph creation and commenting, problem solving etc. The teaching package usually involves the combination of computer application as well as work on paper.

This teaching resource is an integrated educational package specifically designed by an expert team of chemistry secondary school teachers and chemistry university professors, in order to help teachers incorporate new technologies in the teaching practice. The material is scientifically reliable and it covers a wide range of applications of carbon chemistry in everyday life. The availability of supporting material such as student worksheets, evaluation sheets, detailed teaching plans and directions for use of the material in class, makes this teaching resource a really valuable integrated teaching proposal. The practical use of the material by the teacher requires some initial effort and time investment: material needs to be downloaded, files need to be extracted, for some applications software needs to be installed and checked for correct function before application in class.

TEI of Ionian Islands