Standard 04: Content Knowledge

The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches and creates learning experiences that make these aspects of the discipline accessible and meaningful for learners to assure mastery of the content.

 

  "Not only is Mrs. Allouch very knowledgeable in chemistry but she also uses a wide range of best practices for teaching     this topic She has designed creative  inquiry- based activities that are appropriate for 9th grade Honors Chemistry."

 ~~D. Hoehn-CT

 

 "Nina definitely knows the subject matter.Her lesson plans includes demonstration, discussion, reflection, worksheet, review,  reading,  and  writing."~~ R.S itron-S.T. Supervisor

 

 

 

Artifact:  "Fireworks" Lesson Plan

                  (The "Fireworks" Article)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Description:

“Fireworks” usually capture everybody’s attention with their appealing colors, light, and explosions which link directly to a very importance chemistry concepts taught in basic chemistry classes-“ELECTRONS ENERGY”. The technology resources (Video, computer) and the inquiry- based worksheets and activities highlighted in this lesson deliver a visually rich strategy to bind together spectral chemistry, combustion reaction, and the nature of fireworks. As an introduction, the students watch a video and then “think, pair, share” to answer the questions of what they think is being the color, shape, and the explosion of the firework. Next, the student has to read the “Fireworks” Article.  They should then work in groups to find out by themselves the statements from the articles related to the chemistry and safety issues of the: color, shapes, and the sonic boom. In addition, students can develop better understanding of fireworks from the pyrotechnic chemists and their advice cited in the article. Teacher should employ the group presentation as mean of check for students’ understanding of the concept behind the “fireworks”. He/ she should wrap up with explanation the principles of chemistry and pyrotechnics that create all their glory  which  is strongly related  to  previously performed  FLAME TEST LAB  in which the students observe how different metallic ions placed over a flame produce different spectral emission due to each ions has different set of electrons.Finally, the studnets had the opportunity to  design their own "firework sample" by using the materials provided by the teachers and label the firework sample and present it to the whole class as a group.

 

 

 Reflection:

The lessons’ objectives were distinctly stated.  Clear instructions for group work were presented to students. Students were actively engaged in the group work activity, were formulating questions such as: “light, shapes, and sounds should be detailed described? which reveals the higher order  thinking. The connections between fireworks, a real life example, and the Flame test Lab and the electrons energy chemistry concept  make the students more familiar with this hard concept and let them understand it easily .The class was in general  well behaved .This lesson can be better improved if I had more than 55 min allotted time. At the end of the lesson, I was not able to let the studnets design their own “ firework”.