BERGAMO
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
Particular attention will be paid to the experimental approach through learning observational-type inquiry techniques and the constant integration between theory and practice. At the end of the course, students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the main principles of introductory chemistry to critically confront the three foundational cores "Property - Structure - Transformation."
At the end of the course, the student will have acquired:
1) the foundational scientific concepts given in the contents;
2) an understanding of the educational and experimental relationships existing between chemistry and physics;
3) the ability to carry out practical activities and critical teaching reflections;
4) awareness of the role of "problem-solving" as a fundamental and pervasive moment of doing chemistry at every level of schooling;
5) skill in the implementation of appropriate communication strategies;
6) ability to evaluate scientific contributions and choose those that are didactically most appropriate for kindergarten and elementary school pupils;
7) ability to promote the implementation of collective projects in the classroom from a cooperative-learning perspective.
Course Prerequisites
Teaching Methods
Assessment Methods
The evaluation consists of a written test, during the course. The written test covers topics proposed during the course. Lasting no less than 30 minutes, consisting of 10 questions each evaluated a maximum of 3 points, it is designed to test both the ability to correctly apply theoretical knowledge and the ability to understand the proposed problems. The writing test results are published on the course web page. Students (who cannot take the in-class written test during the course) will take it on the date of the exam. The final mark, expressed on a scale of 1-30, considers the quality of the acquired skills and the speaking ability. The final mark can be: a) Insufficient (less than 18/30): The candidate does not demonstrate that he possesses the minimum notions on the topics dealt with in the course, has modest expressive abilities and in any case insufficient to support a coherent dialogue, a lack of synthesis and little interaction with the teacher during the interview. b) Sufficient (from 18 to 20/30): The candidate demonstrates to have few acquired notions, superficial level, and many gaps. The expressive capacities are modest but sufficient to support a coherent dialogue; the logical abilities and consequentiality in the connection of the elementary level arguments; interactions with the teacher during the interview are scarce. c) Fair (from 21 to 23/30): The candidate shows to have a discrete acquisition of notions but little depth, few gaps; expressive skills more than sufficient to support a coherent dialogue; acceptable mastery of scientific language; logical skills and consequentiality in the connection of moderate complexity topics; more than enough capacity for synthesis and adequate graphic expression. d) Good (from 24 to 26/30): The candidate demonstrates that he has a wealth of notions rather broad, moderately in-depth, with few gaps; satisfactory expressive abilities and significant mastery of scientific language; dialogic ability and critical spirit well detectable; good synthesis skills. e) Very good (from 27 to 29/30): The candidate demonstrates profound knowledge, with marginal gaps; remarkable expressive abilities and high mastery of scientific language; remarkable dialogic ability, useful competence and good aptitude for logical synthesis; high synthesis skills. f) Excellent (30/30): The candidate demonstrates that he has a wealth of pervasive and in-depth knowledge, any irrelevant gaps; high expressive abilities and high mastery of scientific language; excellent dialogic ability and marked aptitude for making connections between different topics; remarkable synthesis ability. "Laude" is given to candidates who demonstrate a complete degree of preparation and appropriate use of the specific vocabulary. In order to proceed with the registration of the examination, each student is required to design one UdA for the Chemistry course, on one of the topics covered. The UdA, optionally intended for pre-school or primary school, is to be uploaded to the e-learning platform (in the "Student delivery" folder) 10 days before the exam. The verbalization of the examination will be conditional on the aforementioned delivery.
Contents
1) Chemistry and the scientific method: Fundamental quantities and derived quantities; The International System of Units (SI); Intensive and extensive quantities.
2) The physical transformations of the matter: the physical states of matter; homogeneous and heterogeneous systems; pure substances and mixtures. The main methods of separation of mixtures.
3) Structure of the matter: The Atom. The fundamental particles. Atomic models. Atomic mass, molecular mass. Amount. The periodic table. Periodic properties of the elements. Metals and non-metals.
4) Chemical bonds: Primary and secondary bonds. The shape of molecules. Classification and nomenclature of compounds.
5) Solutions: Concentration and solubility. Acids and bases. Strength of acids and bases. Definition of pH. Acid-base indicators.
6) Chemical reactions: reagents and products. The principle of conservation of mass. Chemical kinetics. The collision theory. Concept of chemical equilibrium
7) Electrochemistry: Oxidation-reduction reactions.
8) Fundamentals of the chemistry of life: organic chemical nomenclature, carbohydrates, proteins, lipids.
For the transposition of theoretical contents into the practice of teaching in primary school and childhood, particular attention will be paid to laboratory activity as a possible turning point in the teaching-learning relationship. We will explore topics related to the laboratory as a classroom "place of narration, learning and case study" also outdoors, in safety, stimulating observation, problematization, planning, experience, and experiment. Simple laboratory-type demonstrations, such as:
• Mixtures: separation methods. Acids, bases and salts in ordinary skill as examples of chemicals
• Air: composition and properties.
• Water: an essential element for life.
• The earth: characteristics of the soils, their origin and relationship with the chemical substances present in them.
• The chemistry of hazardous substances.
• Foods and their chemical components.
Online Resources
More information
For each candidate, the evaluation of the Chemistry module, once accepted by the student, will be communicated to the lecturer in charge of the Physics module for the overall evaluation registration of "Physics and Chemistry Teaching".