SCHOOL SCIENCEAND

MATHEMATICSVOL. LVIIJANUARY, 1957WHOLE No. 498

A HIGH SCHOOL CHEMISTRY CURRICULUM

JOHN W. RENNERTraining Officer, Federal Civil Defense Administration, Battle Creek, Mich.

Today’s high school chemistry course should go on a diet! Duringthe past twenty-five years the high school chemistry curriculum hasbecome more and more obese in content. One reason for this is thattoday much is known about the structure of matter and the natureof energy that was unknown or speculation twenty-five years ago.The results of these recent advances in the field of science (the fore-going is but one example) have been introduced in the high schoolchemistry course and properly so. However, the time devoted tostudying chemistry in the secondary school has remained static,i.e., one academic year. The problem that faces the chemistry in-structor in the present high schools is what must be taught and notwhat should ideally be taught.

Chemistry textbooks have given the chemistry instructor someassistance with the selection of content, but as the entire field ofchemistry became larger so did the texts, until today the chemistrybook which a high school student studies resembles an encyclopediamore than it does a guide to effective learning. Perhaps this is thetype of textbook desired by the chemistry instructors in today’ssecondary schools. If this is true, it reflects the diversity of opinionwhich exists among present-day chemistry teachers regarding theselection of that content necessary to build a useful, meaningful, andintellectually challenging course.How should a chemistry instructor proceed in selecting content to

construct a course which will be manageable and valuable? The writerbelieves that the first step which must be taken is to isolate thosemajor areas which will contribute to the scientific growth, through

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the study of chemistry, of the students. The writer believes that themajor areas are these.

1. "The Tools of Chemistry"�the characteristics of matter andenergy

2. Atomic structure3. The Periodic Chart and its use4. The Gaseous State of Matter5. Carbon and Organic Chemistry6. The MetalsIn the introductory phases of high school chemistry it is customary

to study the concept that there are three states of matter, i.e., solid,liquid, and gaseous. This is a principle that every student who studiesscience at the junior high school level should have mastered, but be-cause of its importance it is well to emphasize it again. Chemistrycould not be effectively studied if only these generalizations werestudied. However, it is a common pattern in today’s high schoolchemistry course to leave the important generalization regarding thegaseous state of matter in the introduction of the course, and proceedto study the gases individually. Some texts have "units" on oxygen,hydrogen, nitrogen and ammonia, and the halogens. A unit, to thewriter, means a major understanding. Consequently, is it not morelogical to study a unit entitled the "Gaseous State of Matter" andtherein study the individual gases than to study them individuallyas entities throughout the course? If this is done, the study of theparts has been accomplished, and the student has been presentedwith a whole picture rather than having to piece together this pic-ture because of the sequential divorcement of these topics. Somepersons will say that according to the writer’s generalization regard-ing the gases there should also be a unit entitled "solids" and oneentitled "liquids." It is believed that such "generalizing" would be"forced." If the material to be studied naturally and logically fitsinto a common category, it should be studied there. If the principlesto be studied must be forced into the same category, they do not be-long together and should not be made a part of the same unit. Thewriter believes that if the content which is studied with respect tothe individual gases is examined it will be seen that it fits togetherquite naturally.Some of the modern high school chemistry texts have placed to-

gether in a common unit that material regarding the metals. Forthis they are to be commended, and it seems to bear out the writer’scontention that the same should and can be done with the gases.Perhaps even more serious than studying the gases as separate

entities is the relegation of the periodic table of elements to a placein the chemistry course where it will be hastily studied, if at all.

A HIGH SCHOOL CHEMISTRY CURRICULUM 3

Since it usually follows the study of a great many individual ele-ments it is believed that perhaps the reason for this is that the stu-dent must understand the elements before he is capable of under-standing the periodic chart. Yet one of the first concepts which isusually studied in chemistry is the structure of matter. What bettertime to introduce the periodic chart and its arrangement, and Mose-ley’s law, than when the knowledge of the structure of the atom isfresh and novel. The writer believes that the periodic arrangement ofthe elements should be one of the first major concepts which thehigh school student meets in the study of chemistry. The under-standing and functional value of the chart grows as the course pro-ceeds and as the knowledge of chemistry possessed by the studentsbecomes broader, the chart will become a useful tool rather than amysterious "gadget" or map.

It seems to the writer that there has been one other serious divorce-ment which has occurred in high school chemistry. It is the separatestudy of "carbon and its compounds" and "organic chemistry." Insome courses these topics are studied weeks apart, thereby deprivingthe student of the opportunity of gaining a major understandingwhere one exists due to the nature of the content. Why have suchcontent "divorcements" occurred in what is otherwise, to the writerat least, by the nature of the material, logically organized content?The answer to this rhetorical question lies (it is believed) in the factthat teachers tend to follow the text. A research project recentlycompleted by the writer gave him the opportunity to talk with ap-proximately fifty secondary school mathematics teachers. Only twoof these teachers did not use the text primarily as a course outline,and it is believed that there is a similarity between the habits ofteachers. Further, an examination of the currently available textswill show that their organization has perpetrated the separation ofwhat the writer believes to be topics that should be studied togetherin order to give the student the "major understanding" which is sodesirable and essential. It has been mentioned that some texts havefollowed such an organization when discussing the metals.What useful purpose can be accomplished by reorganizing the high

school chemistry curriculum into more closely integrated units ofstudy than now exist? It is believed that such an organization willallow the student to gain a more functional understanding of theentire picture of the foundation stones of chemistry. By organizing acourse in a way which the following course outline suggests, thewriter believes (because experience in teaching the course in thismanner has shown to him that such is true) that the student firstgains a perspective of the nature and structure of matter and thenbegins to comprehend the parts (the elements) that make up the

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whole (the periodic arrangement of the elements). If this is accom-plished, the students will begin to predict reactions between elements,properties of elements, etc. from a given element’s position on theperiodic chart. It is the opinion of the writer that at this’point thestudent’s knowledge of chemistry has become functional.The following course outline has been used by the writer in an

attempt to make chemistry a logical and functional course. Unsolic-ited comments by graduates have led him to believe that this ar-rangement of the content has done this (at least partially).

UNIT I: THE TOOLS OF CHEMISTRY1. Matter and its characteristics2. Mass and weight3. Gravitation4. Inertia5. Law of conservation of matter and energy6. Energy and work7. Molecular theory (heats of fusion and vaporization, melting, evaporation,

boiling, and sublimation)8. The scientific method9. Measurement

10. Pressure and the atmosphere (barometers)11. The gas laws

UNIT II: ATOMIC STRUCTURE AND ITS USES1. Physical change2. Chemical change3. Characteristics of a mixture4. Characteristics of a compound5. The structure of an atom6. The relation between atoms and molecules7. How atoms unite to form compounds8. Valence9. The kinetic-molecular theory

10. Avogadro^s law (gram-atomic and gram-molecular weights)11. The structure of the periodic chart12. Metals, non-metals, and amphoteric substances13. Natural radioactive elements14. Artificial radioactivity and isotopes15. Transmutation and the "man-made" elements

UNIT III: THE CHEMIST*s USE OF THE PERIODIC CHART1. Types of reactions

a. Synthesisb. Analysisc. Substitutiond. Double replacemente. Polymerization

2. Chemical equations (yield problems)3. Solutions

a. Solubility rules for waterb. Types of solutionsc. Dilute and concentrated solutionsd. The ionic theory of solution

A HIGH SCHOOL CHEMISTRY CURRICULUM 5

4. Acids, bases, and salts5. The electrochemical series

UNIT IV: THE GASEOUS STATE OF MATTER1. Oxygen2. Hydrogen3. Nitrogen4. Ammonia5. The Halogens6. The inert gases (He, Ne, A, K.r, Xe, Rn)All of the above will be studied as to properties, reactions, uses, and some will

be prepared in the laboratory.

UNIT V: CARBON AND ORGANIC CHEMISTRY1. The allotropic forms of carbon

a. The diamondb. Graphitec. Amorphous carbon

2. Carbon compoundsa. C02; in baking, photosynthesis, in fire extinguishers, as a refrigerantb. CO

3. Organic Chemistrya. The methane (paraffin) series (CnHan+2)

(1) Properties and chemical conductb. Petroleum

(1) Fractional distillation (Octane rating)(2) Cracking .

c. The ethylene series (CnHzn-s)(1) Ethylene(2) Acetylene

d. Halogen substitution products of hydrocarbonse. Rubber

(1) Isoprene(2) Neoprene

f. Alcohols(1) Methyl(2) Ethyl(3) Glycerol :(4) Ethylene glycol . -

g. Ether (alcohol->ether)h. Alcohols�>aldehydes�>ketonesi. Organic acidsj. Estersk. Soap1. Benzene

UNIT VI: THE METALSA. General information

1. Location on the periodic chart2. Review of the electrochemical series3. Definition of an alloy

B. The alkali metals Na and KC. The alkaline earth metals .Ca, Ba, SrD. The Lightweight metals Al and MgE. The coating metals Zn, Cd, Ni, Sn, and CrF. Two heavy metals, Pb and Hg

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G. A widely used metal and its alloy, iron and steelH. The most widely used electrical metal, copperI. The precious metals, Au, Ag, and Pt

The writer encountered some major problems during the years thiscourse was taught. One of these problems was the availability oftextual materials. This was overcome by using a reference shelf andencouraging wide reading from texts that suited students’ ability.The reference shelf was made up of high school text books, collegetext books, some of the "popular^ works, and college and high schoollaboratory manuals.

Perhaps the "highest hurdle" which had to be "cleared" was whattype of laboratory manual to use which would be useful to the stu-dents and yet make them do more than just "fill in the blanks." Nosuitable laboratory text (in the writer’s opinion) was found. Conse-quently, it was necessary to construct one. This work has gonethrough three complete writings and must experience another.However, during the last semester of its use, the writer felt that hewas coming close to his objective of teaching a laboratory which wasan essential part of the aforementioned content and yet was mainlyusing "the discovery method."

There is no illusion which exists in the writer’s mind that he hassettled the polemic question of what content should be taught in highschool chemistry. However, if he has thrown any light on the problemand has stimulated others to think constructively about it, the timespent in curriculum research and trial, as well as the time spent inwriting this article, has been richly rewarded.

SEE HORMONE ROLE IN HEART FAILUREWhen the body tissues get "waterlogged" in patients with congestive heart

failure, at least part of the trouble seems to be overproduction of a hormone bythe adrenal glands. Studies showing this were reported by scientists at theNational Heart Institute.The adrenal glands are famous as the source of anti-arthritis cortisone and

adrenalin. They also produce a hormone called aldosterone which functionsin the normal regulation of fluids and salts in the body. Excess quantities of ithave been found previously in patients with the waterlogged condition callededema.Whether the excess was due to overproduction of the hormone or failure of the

body to destroy it was not known.The scientists here collected blood directly from the veins draining the adrenal

glands of three normal dogs and five with circulation disorders which had resultedin edema.

Aldosterone appeared in the adrenal blood from the dogs with circulation dis-orders at over five times the rate it appeared in adrenal blood of the normaldogs. This leads the scientists to conclude that overproduction of the hormoneis responsible for the excess in congestive heart failure.

Scientists who made the findings are Drs. Wilmot C. Ball Jr., James 0. Davis,Maurice M. Pechet and M. Jay Goodkind.