Chemical Misconceptions

Chemistry is a conceptual subject and, in order to explain many of these concepts, teachers use models to describe and explain the microscopic world and relate it to the macroscopic properties of matter. As students progress in chemistry the models they experience change and many contradict students‘ specific everyday experiences and use of language. This resource is ed to provide strategies for dealing with some of the misconceptions that students have in the form of ready-to-use classroom resources. These include: - copies of probes you can use to identify these ideas among your own students; - some specific exercises aimed at challenging some of these alternative ideas; and - classroom activitiesthat will help students construct the chemical concepts required by the curriculum. These classroom resources are best used in conjunction with the accompanying volume containing details of the theoretical background behind many of the misconceptions that research has revealed. All the material and activities have been compiled by Keith Taber, the Royal Society of Chemistry Teacher Fellow 2000-2001, and have been trialled in schools where they have worked in a classroom setting.