Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
Primary education
. In German elementary schools, social studies and science
are taught in an interdisciplinary approach called “
Sachunterricht.
” For the sake of
completeness, content that is part of primary education will be outlined briefly.
Compared with older students 6- to 10-year-olds are highly interested in biological,
chemical, physical, or technical phenomena. Their interest should be used to
introduce children to many phenomena in the classroom.
The German society of primary education at schools (GDSU) suggests five
perspectives [
21
]:
1. Social and cultural perspective (social science)
2. Spatial perspective (geography)
3. Natural science perspective (biology/chemistry/physics as interdisciplinary
teaching)
4. Technological perspective (technics and technology)
5. Historical perspective (history)
The following examples concern chemical issues: “Properties of substances,
effects of heat, melting and solidifying, combustion processes, oxygen and respira-
tion, use of electricity, natural powers, wind and water, atmosphere and weather,
body and health, hazards to the environment, environment protection, healthy
eating” [
21
]
These topics should be connected to the following inquiry skills: “observe;
collect, sort and classify; measure and compare; identify problems and perform
experiments to solve them; propose guess and explanation; plan, run, analyze and
interpret experiments; create and analyze tables and charts; evaluate explanations;
produce skilled drawings” [
21
].
Hands-on activities play an important role for learning in primary science
education. Moeller [
22
] built special boxes for teachers of primary schools to
learn by hands-on experiments more about “swimming and sinking, air and air
pressure, transfer of sound, bridges and their stability” [
22
]. The boxes are made
for groups of about six to eight children in class. Teachers can borrow one box for
1 week, carry out the experiments with all the supplied material, give back that box
and take another box for the next topic.
The interdisciplinary approach sometimes continues through grades five and six
in middle schools and gymnasiums - it differs from state to state in Germany. That
subject is often called “world and environment studies” and most topics concern
biology. In grade seven or eight, the interdisciplinary approach is abandoned in
favor of the sciences: biology, chemistry, and physics. In general, the students have
2 h per week of lectures in every discipline; occasionally teachers offer study
groups in the afternoon where students may voluntarily learn more about current
questions - especially if more laboratory work is involved!
For advanced studies in grade 11 and 12 (in Germany called “Sekundarstufe II”)
every student has the choice of one discipline, which they are studying for 3 h per
week (“Grundkurs”) or 5 h per week (“Leistungskurs”).
