CAPHAPUZ, António ; PAIXÃO, Fátima (2005) - A historical approach to teaching the concept of the chemical element. School Science Review. ISSN 0036-6811. Vol. 86, nº 317 (June), p. 91-94.
0036-6811
Title
A historical approach to teaching the concept of the chemical element
Subject
Chemical education Chemical element Lavoisier context of discovery
Date
2012-07-20T09:56:35Z 2012-07-20T09:56:35Z 2005-06
Description
A novel teaching strategy is described, which was developed to introduce the key notion of chemical elements to 15-year-old Portuguese chemistry pupils. The strategy started from the analysis of the so-called ‘Lavoisier law ’and explored the relationships between macro and micro level chemistry in an innovative way. The key idea was first to explore the macro level (mass conservation) to help pupils consider the existence of indestructible units (elements, micro level) as a logical necessity for making sense of experimentally observed phenomena. The approach facilitates the integration of content and process aims.
