How do elementary students learn chemistry?

CHED 1483

Jodye I Selco, jiselco@csupomona.edu, Center for Education and Equity in Mathematics, Science and Technology, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, 3801 W. Temple Ave., Pomona, CA 91768, Mary Bruno, mbruno@rialto.k12.ca.us, Rialto Unified School District, Bemis Elementary School, Rialto, CA 92376, and Sue Chan, schan@rialto.k12.ca.us, Rialto Unified School District, Kolb Middle School, Rialto, CA 92376.
The 5th grade physical science standards in California address beginning chemistry; therefore, our goal is to find teaching methods that work with 9 and 10 year old students. Teachers were surveyed to see which lessons were used within their classrooms during each of 3 years of the study, and what type of students were in the class each year (e.g. English learners or gifted). The overall science proficiency as well as the proficiency of students for each physical science standard of the students on the state (standardized) and district (writing about a hands-on science experiment) tests along with the rubric used to score the district test will be correlated to the survey data. Preliminary data suggests that use of hands-on, minds-on pedagogy and manipulatives enable students to learn and understand basic chemistry; the classroom with the highest scores on the chemistry questions contains students that speak virtually no English.
 

Chemistry Education Research
1:30 PM-4:55 PM, Tuesday, April 8, 2008 Hilton New Orleans Riverside -- HEC A, Oral

Division of Chemical Education

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008