Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
In the following, the design of the teaching unit and the associated aims for the
students to reach over time are described. In addition, categories indicating the level
of coping with the inquiry-based tasks were developed out of these aims.
5 The Teaching Unit
A 9-month period was used to observe the preconditions of the students and to
implement inquiry-based learning successively with several tasks, such as electric-
ity or thermodynamics. The whole period was needed to observe changes in the
students
emotional engagement. The topic “states of matter” was then taught to
lead the students more into chemistry learning. The topic of the teaching unit is—on
a basic level—set by the science curriculum for students of that age (10-12 years)
with the focal points of supporting learning
3
(Senatsverwaltung f¨r Bildung [Senate
Department for Education Youth and Sports]
2005
). I realized how fascinated the
students were playing with the ice outside (it was winter) and valued their positive
behavior as a good starting point for the teaching unit using water as the example to
study states of matter. Besides, water has a strong appeal for students around that
age in general (Meier,
2000
), and students can harmlessly and autonomously
conduct experiments about it. Furthermore, states of matter was chosen as it is
one of the rare topics for students of that age that has at least a peripheral connection
to chemistry education which is often neglected in special education. Like a spiral
curriculum suggests, the students should learn first concepts of the topic early which
they can build on later when learning the particle model in that context, for
example.
'
5.1 Targeted Skills During the Teaching Unit
The chosen topic for the implementation of inquiry-based learning was states of
matter using the example of water. Targets were set for four competence areas:
subject matter, personal skills, methodological skills, and social skills. The objec-
tives concerning subject matter are given by the national curriculum for students in
5th/6th grade with the focal points of supporting learning (Senatsverwaltung f¨r
Bildung, Jugend und Sport Berlin
2005
), for example:
The students handle materials safely and with discernment.
They explore characteristics of substances with the help of basic experiments.
They explain different states of matter and name the technical terms.
They classify changes of states of matter and label them correctly.
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This is the applicable curriculum. There is no specific curriculum for students with emotional/
behavior disorders.
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