Mitchell Trainor
EDC 448
Diverse Text Set
1. This text set will incorporate 10 different texts which will be at many different reading
levels so that all of my students will be able to see the topic in several different ways.
The intended audience for this text set would be a high school chemistry class which is
typically grades 11 and 12. The topic of this text set will be acids and bases. This is a
huge portion of a high school chemistry class and is very important for the students to
understand that’s why giving information to my students in many different ways about
this topic is essential to my students understanding of this topic. Many of the students in
this chemistry class will have trouble reading some of these texts because they are
difficult; however, I intend to give the students some help through think-alouds and
graphic organizers to accomplish the task of their understanding of acids and bases. The
texts will be in many different reading levels because most students will be reading below
grade level.
2. Texts
a. Print Resources:
i. Text #1
1. Citation: Zumdahl, S. & Zumdahl, S. (2007). Acids and Bases.
In Chemistry: Seventh Edition (pp. 622-679). Boston, MA:
Houghton Mifflin Company.
2. Text Summary: This chapter in the textbook is about acids and
bases. It starts with defining the terms and mentioning the
different types of acid/base theory (Bronsted-Lowry, Arrhenius,
and Lewis). It then goes to talk about the pH scale and strength of
acids. Finally, it illustrates the type of acid/base problems that a
student might face and shows the students how to solve the
problems.
3. Rationale: I selected this text because it is a good source of
information about acids and bases that my students will need to
know. It defines the concepts very well and has many practice
problems for my students to do.
4. Use of Text: This is a difficult text and I would use this as an in
class reading assignment. I would do a think-aloud in the
beginning for this text because it is difficult to read.
ii. Text #2
1. Citation: pH Scale. (2005-2009). Retrieved March 3, 2009, from
Richmond River County Council Web Site:
http://www.rrcc.nsw.gov.au/images/2007/pH%20Scale.jpg
2. Text Summary: This is a table of the pH scale with examples of
certain types of fluids that are at particular pHs.
3. Rationale: I selected this text because my students need to see
what the pH scale looks like. This pH scale is also great because it
has examples of fluids at different pHs so that my students can
relate what they know about those substances to the pH; it is a
great way for my students to make connections.
4. Use of Text: I will use this text by giving a copy to all of my
students when we begin to talk about the pH scale.
iii. Text #3
1. Citation: Helmenstine, A. (2009). Acid-Base Titrations.
Retrieved March 3, 2009, from About.com Web Site:
http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryquickreview/a/titrationcalc
.htm
2. Text Summary: This text quickly defines what an acid-base
titration is and then gives a short example problem that is solved.
3. Rationale: I selected this text because it gives a good example of
how to solve an acid-base titration question.
4. Use of Text: I will use this text as an example of how to solve an
acid-base titration question during class while I am lecturing.
iv. Text #4
1. Citation: Hann, J. (1991). Acids and Bases. In How Science
Works (pp. 36-37). Pleasantville, NY: The Reader’s Digest
Association Inc.
2. Text Summary: This text gives a short summary of acids and
bases and two experiments. One experiment gives the students an
idea of the power of an alkali base by cleaning silver. The next
experiment is an acid indicator experiment where we create our
indicator with red cabbage then use it to calculate acidity.
3. Rationale: I selected this text because it gives two experiments
that are very helpful with understanding acids and bases. The first
demonstrates the power of strong bases which is something that
my students will need to learn so that they handle the bases
carefully. The second shows the students that they can use
something common to them (red cabbage) to make an indicator
which they can use to calculate pH.
4. Use of Text: I would use this text as a handout and do the second
experiment because it is very hands-on and will help my students
to understand how to test for pH.
v. Text #5
1. Citation: Margolin, M. (2000). Are There Acids in the Attic and
Bases in the Basement? In ABS’s of Chemistry (pp. 73-77).
Portland, Maine: Walch Publishing.
2. Text Summary: This text explains an experiment that could be
done in class that determines the pH of household items such as;
soda, mouthwash, window cleaner, etc.
3. Rationale: I selected this text because it illustrates to my students
that acids and bases are part of everyday life. This is a great way
to show my students that they are interacting with acids and bases
everyday and that they will use this information at some point in
there life.
4. Use of Text: I would use this text as a way to demonstrate that we
encounter acids and bases in everyday life. I would do this
experiment with the class.
b. Media Resources:
i. Text #6
1. Citation: Acid-Base Humor. (2009). Retrieved March 3, 2009,
from Ohio State University Web Site: http://www.chemistry.ohiostate.edu/~rzellmer/cartoons/acid_base.jpg
2. Text Summary: This is a short cartoon of a plane attacking a base.
It is a chemistry joke because the plane shoots an acid at the base
to neutralize it.
3. Rationale: I selected this text because it can be used to lighten the
mood of the serious classroom during this stressful topic and also
to get the students to be intrigued about this topic.
4. Use of Text: I would use this text sometime in the middle of my
lesson plan to lighten to mood and get a laugh from my students.
ii. Text #7
1. Citation: The Snark-a-Snoops. (2002-2009). Chemistry Song
about Acids, Bases and pH: “Fizzology”. Retrieved March 3,
2009, from Songs for Teaching Web Site:
http://www.songsforteaching.com/science/chemistry/acidsbasesfiz
zology.htm
2. Text Summary: This text is the lyrics to a short chemistry song
called “Fizzology.” It talks mostly about the pH scale and where
acids and bases are on the pH scale.
3. Rationale: I selected this text because…even though it is very
corny and my students will laugh at me for showing them this
song, I feel like this song will help my students to remember that
acids have a low pH and bases have a high pH.
4. Use of Text: I will give my students the song lyrics when we
begin to talk about the pH scale and if I can find an audio version
of this song I will also play it to help my students further
understand the pH scale.
c. Online Interactive Resources:
i. Text #8
1. Citation: pH Scale. (2008). Retrieved March 3, 2009, from
University of Colorado Web Site:
http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/sims.php?sim=pH_Scale
2. Text Summary: This is an online interactive site. This site has
many different simulations for science students to do to help them
understand some of the many difficult concepts. I have chosen the
pH scale simulation. Once in the simulation students can change
the concentrations of the hydronium ion and the hydroxide ion and
then see the effects it has on the pH.
3. Rationale: I selected this text because it is a great resource to help
my students see the information in a visual and interactive way
which will help my students remember the information.
4. Use of Text: I will use this simulation website as an in class
activity. This simulation will activate my student’s curiosity
towards acids and bases and help them to understand the concept
by experimenting with this simulation.
ii. Text #9
1. Citation: GEMS Alien Juice Bar. (2000). Retrieved March 3,
2009 from Regents of the University of California Web Site:
http://scienceview.berkeley.edu/showcase/flash/juicebar.html
2. Text Summary: This is a short web quest with a few interactive
activities. The first activity has the students testing the pH of some
liquids with some cabbage juice which turns the acids pink and the
bases green. Then next activity has the students serving drinks to
aliens with the correct acidity. Finally, the students have to create
drinks of the correct pH for the aliens.
3. Rationale: I selected this text because this activity could be very
helpful for my students that are struggling. This activity was
originally designed for 8th grade students. However, I could use
this activity as a way to help my lower level students and also as a
break from some of the harder lectures.
4. Use of Text: I would use this web quest at the same time as the
simulation website. I would give my students time to work on the
computers at both of these activities.
d. Instructional Resources:
i. Text #10
1. Citation: New ScoPE Lesson Plans: Tenth Grade. (2005).
Retrieved March 3, 2009, from Oakland Schools Web Site:
http://www.oakland.k12.mi.us/scope/tenth_lessons/index.html
2. Text Summary: On this web site I scrolled to Unit 5-Acids and
Bases Lesson 1-Acids. I used this first lesson plan which was a
good source. This source introduced the concept of what an acid is
and went through steps for a class to get the students intrigued
about the subject. It spoke about different questions to ask the
students and then it has a small in class project for the students to
do.
3. Rationale: I selected this text because the lesson plan seemed like
a great way for me to see how one teacher went about teaching the
subject of acids to his/her class.
4. Use of Text: This text would not be used by the students it would
be more of a resource to me on different ways to present the
material to my students.
3. I would use all of these texts in different ways. All of my students would see all of the
texts except for the lesson plan text (# 10) because that would only be used by me as a
source of how to teach the subject of acids and bases. I would use text # 1 first and do a
think-aloud discussion on it because it is a difficult text. Once I got to the pH scale I
would give the students text # 2 so that they could see what the pH scale looks like; I
would then use texts # 4 and # 5 as a way to demonstrate the examples of liquids at
certain pHs. Text # 5 would be used as an experiment where we would calculate the pH
of common household items which were listed on our pH scale (text # 2). Then text # 4
would be used to show that we could use a household item (red cabbage) to create an acid
indicator to calculate the pH of a liquid. I would then give my students some computer
time to look at text # 8 and text # 9. This would be a great time to do the pH simulation
and the pH web quest because it would be right after my students did the experiments
where they calculated pH. I could then give my students text # 7 (song lyrics) and get
them to relax for a few minutes from having to learn so much so quickly. Following the
song lyrics I would transition into text # 3 (acid-base titration) and illustrate to my
students how to solve a problem. Once my student understood the concept of an acidbase titration and a neutralization reaction I would give them text # 6 to get a laugh
because at this point they should be able to understand the chemistry joke. All of these
texts can be used to illustrate to my students the concept of acids and bases.
4. Objectives
a. Content Area
i. When students are given 3 substances they will be able to place them in
order of increasing acidity.
1. GSE - PS1 (9-11) - 1a
a. Students demonstrate an understanding of characteristic
properties of matter by…utilizing appropriate data (related
to chemical and physical properties), to distinguish one
substance from another or identify and unknown substance.
b. Reading Strategy
i. Students will be able to identify the meanings of the vocabulary words
through reading techniques such as context clues.
1. GLE/GSE – R-10-2.1a
a. Students identify the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary
by…Using strategies to unlock meaning (e.g., knowledge
of word structure including prefixes/suffixes, common
roots, or word origins; or context clues; or resources
including dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses to determine
definition, pronunciation, etymology, or usage of words; or
prior knowledge)