Carbon Chemistry(CC),
th
an 8 grade Physical Science unit
Sharon Stevens Sinclair
Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School
1290 Ivey Ranch Road
Oceanside, Ca 92057
Carbon Chemistry: Background Info
Web
site:http://ctap295.ctaponline.org/~ssinclai/
This two-week lesson was the final unit in the chemistry
curriculum in 8th grade physical science. It was
implemented in Spring 2001. Over 160 students
participated in all activities. Results were analyzed for
36 students from 2 periods.
Sharon Stevens Sinclair
teacher_sinclair@yahoo.com
Martin Luther King, Jr. MS
(760) 967-1122
CC: Student Expectations
This internet based lesson addresses the uniqueness
of the element carbon. Students worked in small
groups, pairs and individually while completing the
different activities. It was expected by the end of the
unit all students would know:
 Carbon with its four valence electrons has the
ability to form 4 bonds.
 All living things are based on carbon.
 Carbon bonds most frequently with
hydrogen and oxygen.
 The study of carbon is known as organic
chemistry.
CC: Actual Learning
 The internet activity, Carbon is 4 ever, took twice as
long, due to slow computers, so I had to reconfigure
the groups and use the 4 faster IMACs. It took 2 days
to complete this activity.
 The carbon model activity went very well, since
students had built molecular models twice in previous
chemistry lessons.
 Most students were motivated to complete the different
and varied activities.
 Many types of learning modalities and styles were
addressed through the variety of activities.
CC: Successes
& Shortcomings
 This was the second web-based lesson I had developed,
consequently the implementation was much easier.
 The different activities (note-taking, model building,
interactive web lesson, polymer investigation,
information poster) blended well to meet the science
content standards.
 Most students appeared to be engaged throughout the
two week lesson implementation.
 I encountered no instructional or content related
problems. The only issues were technical ones, which
were addressed immediately, and added one day to the
lesson sequence.
CC Data Analysis
 18 multiple choice pre and post tests
taken by approximately 160 students.
 All students participated in six activities
during carbon chemistry unit.
 Not all students completed the six
activities.
 Data for approximately 24% or
36 students was analyzed.
CC Data Analysis
 Students showed
18
16
Score (Max 18 points)
an average
increase of 4.3
points
 The Pre-test
range was 2 – 15.
Average score 7.1
 Post-test range
was 6 – 16.
Average score
11.3
Comparison of Carbon Chemistry Pre and Post Test Scores
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
Student Number
CC Data Analysis
 A positive
Comparison of Post Test Scores & Carbon
Chemistry Activities
18
16
16
15
Post Test Score
correlation appears
between the
number of
completed
activities and posttest scores. There
was only 1 outlier
or inconsistency.
 The more activities
a student finished,
the higher their
achievement.
15
14
14
13
13
13
12
12
10
11
10
10
9
9
9
8
8
7
7
6
6
4
2
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
Number of Student Activities
6
7
CC Data Analysis
 Pretest scores
12
11.33
11.36
10
Total Points Scored
for girls were
lower than
boys by almost
1 point, 6.79
Vs. 7.64.
 Post test scores
were equal,
11.33 Vs.
11.36.
Comparison of Male and Female Student Scores
7.64
8
6.79
Female
Male
6
4
2
0
PreTest
Post Test
CC Reflections
 Most difficulties were technical in nature,
related to the computer lab and old, archaic
equipment. These should improve over time as
computer equipment is upgraded.
 Student engagement was high, since there was
a wide range of activities (lab, models, internet
web sites, note-taking, poster).
 Motivation is still a factor with middle school
students, especially in low achievers. They did
not complete the activities, and subsequently
had low scores on pre & post tests.
CC Revisions
No changes to
activities.
Anticipate technical
problems, checkout
equipment.
Possibly build in
incentives to encourage
low achievers to finish
activities.
CC Conclusion
 I had very few problems implementing this internet-
based lesson, since I have had prior experience with
similar projects in Astronomy and Matter.
 Multi-dimensional web-based lessons are both
engaging and motivating to most students.
 I plan to create more lessons like these to
complement the middle school science curriculum.
 Unfortunately, this is extremely time-consuming
project, and must be developed during summer
workshops or curriculum writing sessions.