NSS Chemistry
Learning & Teaching Strategies
Active Reading and
Writing Tasks
Raymond WH FONG
Science Education Section
May 2010
Objectives of the Workshops
1. To promote the use of active reading
and writing tasks in the learning and
teaching of chemistry
2. To share experiences in conducting
reading and writing tasks in the
chemistry lessons
3. To discuss on how to develop
activities from different resource
materials
4. To discuss on how to assess students'
reading and writing tasks
Resources for
Development of Reading
and Writing Tasks
How “Post-it Notes” Work?
Chem4Kids
http://www.chem4kids.com/
Chem4Kids (Cont’d)
 Length ~ 300 words
 Nice illustrations
 Hyperlinked to
other topics
 Quiz – consolidation
Science News for Kids
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/
Science News for Kids
 E.g. The science of disappearing (17/2/2010)
 Questions for classroom use



1. Before reading:
 What does it mean to disappear or be invisible?
 What is light?
 What would be one use of being able to make something invisible?
2. During reading:
 What’s one fictional story that includes some way of making something or
someone invisible?
 Who is Steven Cummer and why is he in this story?
 Did John Pendry actually build an invisibility cloak in 2006? If not, what did he
do?
 Did the first invisibility device actually make something disappear?
 What are radiation and the electromagnetic spectrum?
 What is a metamaterial?
3. After Reading
 Why is it hard to make an invisibility cloak for visible light?
 Why could you use the same idea for steering light to also protect an island
from a tsunami? How would this work?
 Why might studying metamaterials in college be a good idea?
Science Magazine
 Catalyst
http://www.philipallan.co.uk
 ChemMatters
 Chem 13 News


U of Waterloo, Canada
http://sciborg.uwaterloo.ca/chem13ne
ws/index.html
 Chemistry Review
 Education in Chemistry
AL Chemistry Exam Papers
Booklets
中國內地化學教育資源網
http://resources.edb.gov.hk/chemistry/
化學趣聞：第一艘輪船與化學之家
 對於我國現代化學的發展，徐壽有四個方面的
貢獻：
 首先是用音譯，解決當時已經知道的六十四種
元素的中文名稱，為我國的元素命名打下了基
礎。除了少數元素的名稱有變動外，大多數元
素的名稱一直沿用到今天(如鈉、鉀、鈣、鎂、
鋅、鑽、鎳、錳等) 。對有機化合物，他也採
用了音譯的方法。在化學術語方面，當時將現
代的“原子”稱為“質點”“元素”稱為“原
質”；“原子量”稱為“質點率”等等。
本地化學科教師網站
李SIR好化學網  生活好化學
URL: http://i.am/chemsir
例 1：氦氣球驚魂記 (2009)
例 2：神聖的奧運聖火(2008)
例 3：鉛來有禍了－有毒玩具回收事件(2007)
Reading and writing
tasks as NSS Chemistry
SBA tasks?
Examples of SBA Tasks
1.
critical reading, analysis and reporting on the
contribution of chemistry to the understanding
of the material world
2.
designing a poster or pamphlet aimed at
persuading people to follow the principles of
green chemistry
3.
writing a report to present the scientific
knowledge and concepts acquired after a visit
to an industrial plant, and
4.
developing a multimedia artefact to illustrate
the synthesis of polymers
Thank You!