UTTAVAO (Oca LM taTer-T OO) Oem biotin) -NVAele-l axa FeO cL What are the elements of chemistry that every member of the public should know, long after they have forgotten the science they learned in school? People outside and inside the world of education provide some answers eg ere Peer econ ra ee cei eter ont MUO ern emt ec er en) ent ten Petr tea Peer er Yee Te Crees Pnereeeetrer err yn Tn Perera eee ay Poon Nee tt Beret mien nt erences eee etree een ee) STChr eect enemas Perera tca rr aen i Per reeeeeeres tt ean Paeeroenr eran Matz ther stud ofscfence beyond the en of com Lover iese ‘Our mode! was wel-recelved by the many Perrin erent re eee econ cere ern ii pesioenreneteresen ets eevee reenter errr acan Sees Brent iris ere eryicreee eats ene eee eee eer ay cer ere erate era ee cre eerie een er ete fees eee eet Serer ere nea Coon ees ise rea err ener ee ene tera eed ina consultation paper which we have sum Pere es cece eee eee Coen ee a re Sa eure ee fee eee ec erent canes Peer ereneare er Caer ad Ste nT cee ea pees tea eeeatet Sete er ees See rn ter at Seeger ey ee are een eh ce eee a eee Sent rns nemer trier ere soem Pore eee nT See Ngee ee tt rear ernie! Senet cn aces year old students were parsicularienihusias- Perea a eer aera ay Perret ners Perec) arr enenanem erent Sree aarti stressed, with more opportunities to weigh eee ees creer rset tna rset oe ees this approach being realised in practice, eee ere nay Sor Se eer tects stich ag the scientife method, tisk and the cen ere ott Pee oe a nema ‘on chemical ideas and contexts. (Note: while the full consultation paper does include ere forests aes erect eer) eee et eet eee ny eee tees ee ane Serene ett Per eee emer eterno Counce eee ee eee een eee ere ay ren ene Cesena a ea cna take their stidy of science beyond compa ee sory education should have the opportunity Cette? Cees ae eee) Pete eee ee cea) Pee tee ne Federation of Women’ Institutes said: “The Pe eT Scientific education are confronted with i eens eet eas ey eet eee ene ey imaginadve effort which many are unviling Peet eee en ene ee etre cet obvious and in no way problemat een snc Premera eee a tr cere Peas nner en to separate tem in the way we have done is Pesan een a ere) ere ete neeand taught as distnet topics in the way that say, electricity and mechanies might be. Nev: frtheless, the teachers we consulted wel tome the emphasis on connecting ideas They shiated our conceen that many young people ose sight ofthe key chemical ideas as they study the National Curiculum, Several respondents were worried about four interpretation of the way in which chemists explain macroscopic properties in term of the architecture of mater. One oF (wo. people wanted us to persuade them that this, Should be included in com science, Others made two felated points: ane about the im- portance of distinguishing between indivi ual molecules and ensembles of molecules: the other referring to the distinction between, pre substances, which aze the subject of st school chemist. and everyday materi alssuch as metals, poljmersand ceramics, There were many comments on terminal: ‘ony: In particular, some people pointed out that for lay people, the tem ‘chemical has particular connotations of danger and toxic ty ye ‘chemical substance was thought tobe no better because most of these people do not know what a “substances. Overall, the respondents agreed that use of language was ‘real problem, In oar consultation paper we tied fo use language that would be mean inl o students and lay people, rather than the technical syllabus’ language that is can- ventionally used, Most respondents wel- ccomed this vernacular approach, though at least one professional scientist cautioned inst the use of imprecise language. ‘ams, molecules and fons, and the terms used to describe ther, are particularly ii cult seeas. Professional chemists are acutely ‘wate of the differences between these ent yet the distinction is often lost on KS4 students, Selentists trom the Royal Society suggested that the emphasis should be molecules rather than atoms because it is molecules (Inchiding giant molecules) that do things, and the lay person does not gener- ally encounter atoms, Several respondents suggested that a general tem to convey the dea of Lego or building block is needed be «ause the commonly used terms. such as par ticle ormoleculeallhad asociated problems A leading biochemist pointed out that mostof the effects of drugs, pollutants, foods and chemicals in the home arse from weak interactions hetween molecules. This ind cates a need to emphasise these weaker teractions as well as chemieal reactions and the formation of song chemical bonds The contests identified im the consultation paper were for ilustrative purposes only Several respondents Identied other equally Justifiable contexts: others pointed out the challenge of keeping the contexts up to date Some general principles for identifying con: texts were suggested: respondents pointed to the impact of chemistry on the economy and its contribution tothe balance of payments and to the ability of chemists ¢o make the Substances and materials society needs, While the initial purpose ofthis exercise was toinform our work for QCA, the consultation paper, and the responses to it, have given us a clearer view of what “chemical literacy JANUARY 20 102 Education in Chemistry Box 1 The wo ft a ei eer co rons oe pores ern cee re os a “The folowing isa summary ofthe consultation paper the working party produced. Te full caneultation paper is availabe on the web.« Key chemical idoas ‘This ist covers the essential chemical ‘explanations which people need to make sense of tee ives ‘© everything s made of cherica sub stances; ‘© eventing is made up of buiing blocks; ‘> chemical species ‘= chemical change: ‘= e«laining macroscopic properties in terms ofthe architecture of matter In the consultation paper, each ofthese hey ideas is expanded on by means ofa short narrative in everyday language. For example: in ‘everything is made of chemical substances’: absolutely ‘everything Inthe world around you - including you yourself 's made of chemical substances, The word ‘chemical’ often caries the meaning of ‘etic’ or even “dengerous'. But scientists use the term ‘chemical substance’ to mean any substance - sold, gud or gos whose formu: 1a they can nite down. What chemists do The chemical ideas on thelr avn are Important but they ge litle sense of what chemistry is ol ‘about. A chemical iteracy course should lustre some ofthe impacts of ehemisty on society ty describing what chemists do, thinking creatively ‘2 contoting change = nays synthesis: ' formula Inthe consultation paper, each ofthese headings is expanded by an exclanatoy paragraph showing how these activities link to the Key chemical ideas. For example: in “sthesis’ chemists put together the buling blocks to make new materials. They are able 0 use the properties of efferent chemical species to anticipate the properties of new materials made. Ina chemical teracy course this raises questions such as: ‘218 It safer to use mesieines rom natural sources than from manufactured sources? Is there ‘any fundamental ference? ‘© ty are crus for medicines so expensive?: ‘2 can we make the products of chemist fom sustainablerenewable resources? Chemical contexts This section of the consultation paper is ihustratve. We onl included contexts that are topical ‘and of general interest, e: ‘© heath and medicine; + foo ‘© materials: metals, polymers, coramics ‘= chomicals for cleaning, mending, preserving, decorating: f= agicultue: ‘> environments ‘= attomative fuels forthe future In the consutation paper, for each context we indicate ‘ypical questions that a member of the ube might ask and for which chemisty can hep to provide an answer. For example: usr tive questions on agriculture include: whats natural, what the efference between organic and non-organic food”, should we use artical tortisers whan we grow focd?, are pesticides 13s bad as they are made out to be?, what ae pheromones and how can they be used to con: trol pests? 13Professor SirTom Blundell Unversity of Cambrcge Rob King Radley Cotege John oter {Chomical Industries Associaton Professor SirJohn Krebs Unversity of Onord ‘Gai Gardow The Roya Institution Marguerite Mason NeW John Dexter Te Tenty Schoo}, Notingham Professor Robin Mitar University of Yor Celia Bouse Pae's Grammar Schoo, Cttennam | Jit Nelson BAAS Peter Finegold The Wellcome Trust Colin Osborne Sc. Katherine Hann Explore a Bristol Ginny Page and fe scientists The Royal Society Sir David Harrison The Satter’ Institute Professor Robin Perutz ‘University of York Roger Highfield The Day Telegraph Professor David Philips Imperial College, Loncon Roland Jackson The Science Museum, London Nicholas Russell Imperial Cotoge, London The Lord Jenkin of Roding The House of Lords Daniel Sandford Smith ASE Professor rian Jobnéon ——_Uniersty of Cambridge John Turney ‘Unwersity College, London Sarah Jones BPI Professor David Waddington Unters of York Ken Joshua Chasen Hil Seroal, Gloucester 15-17-yearold students Bilingham ‘aoe AY” Aten ie Gch Prorat kt RU” Kbers Fede of Wrens tsa AS Bc eon fr be hour See SS entails, We believe thisknowledge will enable us to do better justice to chemistry in the net stages of our work for QCA, fen devel ‘oping a fully supported core setence course designed to meet the needs of lay people However, we are fully aware of the important group of students who will eontinue to stay science beyond this stage, olten in prepara tion Tor university enteanee and a scientific career. We will be producing additional sc: fence modules to stand alongside core sc: fence which will ensure that students chem: cal knowledge and skills ate sufficient sup port study a¢ A-level and beyond, ‘Wealso hope to continue to debate, paps through Baucation in Cheraistry, what const: tutes chemical literacy, because we do not be lieve the task s comple. As for this stad, we suggest thar the methodology outside may be ‘ofmone genet interest The approach of cn: sulting, inteested parties both within and ‘without the education community gives a per spective that seems especially appropriate f an issueas broadand importants thisone John Hotman is Salers profesor of chemical education at the University of York, Hestng ton, York YOIO SDD: and Andrew Hunt isco ‘ordinator of the Nugfield Curriculum Contre Bedfard Square, London WC1B.S. Cd 4M. Hons, cave. Se, September, 2002. 2. Unwery of Yak Scene Edueton rou {UYSEG), Qo oy sage 4 cumeun modes projet A repo othe Quacaton: ‘nt Cumin Aor forEnand and ‘aes. Yor The Unversty of Yk, 2003 em, 2008, 3813), 0 ton paper canbe ‘dourlesde rom the Neto Corea Cente watt (nvecrietoundatn og) Whore better to start a chemisty trail than in your own laboratory? Look around it. Quickly guess, without doing any calculations, what the airin the lab weighs. Ten grams? One kilogram? One tonne? How much argon is there? ‘Most UK schoo! laboratories have an area of ca 80m? and are ca ‘Smhigh. So, by a glorious coincidence, the volume of a British ‘Standard Schoo! Laboratory (BSSL) is ca 240 m* and thus contains ‘2 10000 mol of ar, oF 6 10°” molecules. Taking air to be 20.95, per cent oxygen, 78.09 per cent nitrogen and 0.93 per cent argon, the mass of one mole is 28.9. Thus the BSSL holds ca 289 kg of fi, over a quarter of a tonne. No wonder teachers feel undor| pressure! Of this air almost 3kgis argon. here Is even 500¢ of neon, 4.54 of helium, 0.3g of knypton and 0.03 of xenon. And to think ‘that at one time these were called the rare gasos! Thore is ven, ‘some radon, escaping ftom the ground into the atmosphere. Formed by the decay of naturally occuring uranium-238, radon is itself radioactive. The National Radiologial Protection Board states: that the average level of radon in UK homes is 20 Ba" per cubic ‘mete of ai, though some parts ofthe country have much higher evel. Thus the radiation lovel in the BSL will be 4800 Bq, le ‘4800 atoms of radon disintegrating per second, oF e2 17 milion ‘atoms in an houriong science lesson. ‘What about carbon dioxide, the ubiquitous greenhouse gas ‘responsible for global warming? Taking the usually quoted figure of (0.04 per cent {up from its presindustrial revolution figure of 0.03 ‘or cont), then there is ca 116 g of CO, tis sometimes said that in every breath we take in, there is one molecule breathed out by ulus Caesar in his last dying gasp, ‘Et tu, Brute? Roughly ‘speaking, we breathe out ‘one lite of ait with every breath we take, fe 4/24 mol, or 6/24 « 102° = 2.5 x 107 molecules. Taking the molar mass of air as.ca 28.9 and the mass of the atmosphere as ca 5 « 10°%g, it follows that the atmosphere contains ea 1.7 » 10° mal of alr, ora staggering 10% molecules. n the 2000 or so years since Caesars death there ‘must have been pretty good mising of his last ungful withthe rest ‘of the atmosphere. Assuming (and this is rather a big assumption) ‘that the molecules have not heen removed from the atmosahere by nitrogen frxation, combustion ete it follows that 2.5 102 molecules in every 10 molecules are ex-Caesar's or ca one ‘molecule in every 4» 107%, But we breathe in 2.5 10% molecules. With each breath, so about six ofthese were Caesar's! Of the 6 x 110” molecules in the BSSL, ca 1.5 milion were breathed out by Caesar in his ast breath. All the figures inthis trail are approximations and there are some ‘questionable assumptions. Even so, it is unlikely that they wil make a huge difference. Finally for those who think that a chemistry trail should take you ut of the laboratory what about the bedroom? Let's say that @ ‘small bedroom in 2 moder house is ca 6m? by 2m high, the bedroom has a volume of 12m? and thus holds 500:mol ai, 1/20th fof the amount inthe BSSL. Thus there is 1/20th of the amount of nitrogen, oxygen and the other components ofa. 14 Education in Chemistry JANUARY 2002