Section 1- Chemical
& Physical Changes
Section 2- Chemical
& Physical Properties
Section 3 - Water &
Its Properties
Section 4 - Corrosion
Section 5 - Acids/Bases/Indicators
Section 6 - Gases & Pressure
Appendix 1 -Charts & tables, Disposal of Chemicals, Sources of Chemicals, Preparations of Acid and Solutions
Appendix 2 Properties of Common Elements, Descriptions of the Elements, Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide
Appendix 3 Principles of Education, Prof. Hanko
The Reformed Witness, Rev. Cammenga
INTRODUCTION
This project began as discussions among teachers at a Teacher’s Convention a year ago. Some junior high teachers said that they had difficulty from time to time, depending on the topic at hand, coming up with ways to teach the children about chemical and physical phenomena. They had difficulty explaining some of the content, and had more difficulty yet, coming up with demonstrations or activities for the students to do which would further enhance their understanding of the concepts. Furthermore, many of these schools lacked "high-tech" or "expensive" chemicals in which to do any demonstrations. The task, which I was given, was to develop and share demonstrations which teach basic fundamental chemical and physical concepts without the need for "high-tech" and "expensive" tools. What I have developed are 27 demonstration/activities in a variety of areas for teachers to use to help explain chemical and physical phenomena.
These 27 demonstrations have been broken into 6 sections:
- Chemical/Physical Changes
- Chemical/Physical Properties
- Water and Its Properties
- Corrosion
- Acids/Bases/Indicators
- Gases and Pressure
To access the lesson plans for demonstrations that go along with each section, simply click on the section your are interested in on the navigation bar to the left of the screen, then when you arrive there; again select the specific demonstration you are interested in from that particular section. A detailed lesson will then be seen.
Each section is preceded by a brief general description as to how the Reformed believer should understand these concepts. This should not be understood that "perspective" is isolated from the "practical". Rather, the Reformed perspective must come out in all subjects each day. To write this perspective into each demonstration write-up would result in plenty of over-lap and repetition. To avoid this, an introductory section with the common ideas which could be applied to each of the demonstrations, precedes each section. This, of course, is just a small beginning in terms of the depth of the perspective. Much more work needs and can be done to apply Reformed principles to the chemical and physical content. In a desire to help our teachers with this I have included in Appendix 3, Professor Hanko’s work on the Principles of Education as they pertain to the Sciences.
Each demonstration write-up consists of concepts that can be taught, materials needed, set-up and demonstration procedures, questions to discuss with the students, and detailed explanations as to how and why the demonstration worked. It is my hope that the questions and explanations have been written in a manner that the junior high students can understand. Without teaching that age group, it is difficult to know for certainty what kinds of questions they may have. Hopefully, the questions and explanations will be understandable to every teacher, who then can use the information in a way that their students can understand it.
It is my hope that this manual can be used by the Protestant Reformed teachers to better instruct the covenant seed in the "fear of the Lord". May it be used by teachers and students that the "man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (II Timothy 3:17). May God’s blessing rest upon this work that the child of God may grow in true understanding and wisdom of God. May he grow closer in fellowship with God. May he exercise his calling as king under Christ, using the creation and all its powers in the service of his covenant God. May he understand that this calling to serve God in all that he does, is for the benefit of the church. May he understand that this creation will be destroyed, and therefore, he must always be looking and seeking for the "heavenly", "spiritual" kingdom of God. To God be given all the glory and honor.
The Federation Board of the Protestant Reformed Christian Schools commissioned Joel Minderhoud to develop this Repertoire of Chemical Demonstrations
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