PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AP® Chemistry Guided Inquiry Activities for the Classroom CURRICULUM MODULE For the redesigned course launching Fall 2013 The College Board New York, NY About the College Board The College Board is a mission-driven not-for-profit organization that connects students to college success and opportunity. Founded in 1900, the College Board was created to expand access to higher education. Today, the membership association is made up of over 6,000 of the world’s leading educational institutions and is dedicated to promoting excellence and equity in education. Each year, the College Board helps more than 7 million students prepare for a successful transition to college through programs and services in college readiness and college success — including the SAT® and the Advanced Placement Program®.
The organization also serves the education community through research and advocacy on behalf of students, educators, and schools. For further information, visit www. © 2013 The College Board. College Board, Advanced Placement Program, AP, AP Central, SAT, and the acorn logo are registered trademarks of the College Board.
All other products and services may be trademarks of their respective owners. Visit the College Board on the Web: www. Equity and Access Policy Statement The College Board strongly encourages educators to make equitable access a guiding principle for their AP programs by giving all willing and academically prepared students the opportunity to participate in AP. We encourage the elimination of barriers that restrict access to AP for students from ethnic, racial and socioeconomic groups that have been traditionally underserved.
Schools should make every effort to ensure their AP classes reflect the diversity of their student population. The College Board also believes that all students should have access to academically challenging course work before they enroll in AP classes, which can prepare them for AP success. It is only through a commitment to equitable preparation and access that true equity and excellence can be achieved. 3 Connections to the AP Chemistry Curriculum.
3 Connections to the AP Chemistry Exam. 3 Instructional Time and Strategies. 4 Guided Inquiry and the Learning-Cycle Approach. 5 What Is Inquiry Instruction?.
5 What Is the Learning Cycle?. 6 How to Construct a Lesson Incorporating a Learning Cycle. 8 Lesson 1: Representing Chemical Equations and Stoichiometry. 9 Activity: Facilitating Guided Inquiry in the Classroom: Chemical-Reaction Equations.
12 Lesson 2: Acid-Base Neutralization Reactions .17 Activity: Acid-Base Reactions. 20 Lesson 3: Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion (VSEPR) Model. 23 Activity 1: String Molecules. 27 Activity 2: Molecular Models.
29 AP Chemistry Curriculum Module Summative Assessment. 51 vi Preface Preface AP® curriculum modules are exemplary instructional units composed of one or more lessons, all of which are focused on a particular curricular topic; each lesson is composed of one or more instructional activities. Topics for curriculum modules are identified because they address one or both of the following needs: • a weaker area of student performance as evidenced by AP Exam subscores • curricular topics that present specific instructional or learning challenges The components in a curriculum module should embody and describe or illustrate the plan/teach/assess/reflect/adjust paradigm: 1. Plan the lesson based on educational standards or objectives and considering typical student misconceptions about the topic or deficits in prior knowledge.
Teach the lesson, which requires active teacher and student engagement in the instructional activities. Assess the lesson, using a method of formative assessment. Reflect on the effect of the lesson on the desired student knowledge, skills, or abilities. Adjust the lesson as necessary to better address the desired student knowledge, skills, or abilities.
Curriculum modules will provide AP teachers with the following tools to effectively engage students in the selected topic: • enrichment of content knowledge regarding the topic; • pedagogical content knowledge that corresponds to the topic; • identification of prerequisite knowledge or skills for the topic; • explicit connections to AP learning objectives (found in the AP curriculum framework or the course description); • cohesive example lessons, including instructional activities, student worksheets or handouts, and/or formative assessments; • guidance to address student misconceptions about the topic; and • examples of student work and reflections on their performance. The lessons in each module are intended to serve as instructional models, providing a framework that AP teachers can then apply to their own instructional planning. Note on Web resources All links to online resources were verified before publication. In cases where links are no longer working, we suggest that you try to find the resource by doing a key-word Web search.
— The College Board 1 Introduction Introduction Marian DeWane, co-editor University of California–Irvine Irvine, Calif. Tom Greenbowe, co-editor Iowa State University Ames, Iowa In the 2013–2014 academic year, AP Chemistry will begin placing emphasis on guided-inquiry teaching and learning. The College Board provides definitions of different types of inquiry in “Inquiry Instruction in the AP Science Classroom: An Approach to Teaching and Learning” (http://media.com/ digitalServices/pdf/ap/AP-Inquiry-Statement_Final_4-21-11. This curriculum module will introduce the concepts of guided inquiry, and its lessons will focus on some ways to use guided inquiry in the classroom.
Mike Abraham and John Gelder have written a brief introduction to guided-inquiry theory; this background knowledge is essential to understanding guided-inquiry lessons and can be used to help you construct your own lessons grounded in inquiry. In Lesson 1, Renée Cole illustrates how to include a learning cycle in an instructional activity on representing chemical equations to help students understand concepts in stoichiometry; such a learning cycle is a vital component of guided inquiry. Lesson 2, written by Marian DeWane and Tom Greenbowe, utilizes the foundations of guided inquiry to structure a lesson using a computer simulation on acid-base neutralization reactions. The last lesson, by Laura Trout, addresses Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion (VSEPR) theory and takes you through a step-by-step approach to creating instructional activities that include guided inquiry.
Connections to the AP Chemistry Curriculum To address the curriculum requirement of incorporating the science practices (SP), this curriculum module illustrates a variety of ways to implement the practices through guided inquiry. These include using models and representations (SP1), using mathematics (SP2), questioning (SP3), planning and collecting data (SP4), analyzing data (SP5), supporting claims with evidence (SP6), and including cross- curricular connections (SP7). Connections to the AP Chemistry Exam All questions on the AP Chemistry Exam will be directly tied to the course learning objectives and science practices. There is an emphasis on analyzing data, showing conceptual understanding of the learning objectives, and problem-solving skills.
The lessons in this curriculum module will help students analyze data and develop a conceptual understanding of stoichiometry, acid-base neutralization reactions, and the Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion (VSEPR) model. 3 AP Chemistry Curriculum Module Instructional Time and Strategies Within each lesson, a guided-inquiry activity transitions students to a deeper understanding of the essential questions. These activities include step-by-step instructions for you to follow. Although the lessons are on separate topics, it is suggested that they be carried out in the sequence provided.
Some supplemental instruction may be necessary, depending on the needs of a particular class. • Lesson 1: Representing Chemical Equations and Stoichiometry This lesson should be implemented at the beginning of the stoichiometry unit when balancing equations are introduced. Requires one 55-minute class period. • Lesson 2: Acid-Base Neutralization Reactions This lesson should be implemented at the beginning of the solution stoichiometry and acid-base neutralization unit.
Requires one 55-minute class period. • Lesson 3: Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion (VSEPR) Model This lesson should be performed at the beginning of a unit pertaining to molecular shapes. Activity 1 requires about 20 minutes; Activity 2 requires about 50 minutes. 4 Guided Inquiry and the Learning-Cycle Approach Guided Inquiry and the Learning-Cycle Approach Michael Abraham The University of Oklahoma Norman, Okla.
John Gelder Oklahoma State University Stillwater, Okla. What Is Inquiry Instruction? The AP Chemistry curriculum requires you to incorporate inquiry into your instruction based on the science practices. To make this transition to inquiry, you will need an understanding of expectations for this type of instruction. Inquiry instruction is associated with several science practices, including the use of data to derive concepts, the use of questions to guide student learning, the involvement of students in instructional decisions, and emphasis on the use of evidence in inventing concepts.
These characteristics of inquiry teaching have ramifications for how one interacts with students and the role of the instructional components in a curriculum unit. Inquiry is only one strategy of instruction. It is designed primarily to help students develop an understanding of concepts and of scientific processes by invention and application. Concepts are theories or principles used to explain phenomena.
Processes include interpreting data, using evidence in drawing conclusions, experimenting, and modeling (Livermore 1964). Students find it easier to remember factual information if facts are associated with a concept or principle. Table 1 divides learning into different categories and lists the approaches research has shown to be effective with each category. 5 AP Chemistry Curriculum Module Table 1: Effective Instructional Tactics Category of Definition Example Instructional Learning Tactic Concepts Generalization, Conservation of Inquiry Principle, or Theory Mass Questioning Processes Method Separation Practice and Control of Variables Skills (Laboratory, Ability Using a Balance Informing or Mathematical) Curve Fitting Demonstrating Facts Observation Cu2+(aq) is Blue Observing Definition Ag is Silver Informed in Context Attitudes Beliefs or Feelings Chemistry Is Fun Example Curiosity About How Nature Works What Is the Learning Cycle? A helpful way of characterizing instructional strategies used to teach concepts is to divide instructional activities into phases: identification of the concept, demonstration of the concept, and application of the concept.
Inquiry-oriented strategies can be contrasted with other instructional strategies (including traditional approaches such as confirmational “cookbook” labs) by considering the following: • the ways these phases are used in an instructional unit • the sequence of their application • the use of questions as a central instructional tactic • the role experimental data (quantitative and qualitative) and other forms of information play in introducing conceptual ideas • the emphasis on scientific processes • student involvement in the decision process The learning cycle is an example of an inquiry-oriented instructional strategy used to help students develop concepts. It can also be used to guide the construction or organization of units of instruction. First, students are exposed to data demonstrating the concept: the Exploration Phase. From that data the concepts may be derived, thus identified: the Invention Phase.
Students may then apply the concept to other phenomena: the Application Phase. In contrast to many traditional instructional approaches, which simply tell students what they need to know, this inquiry-oriented approach is based upon interpreting student- collected data that can be used as evidence to make claims. Classroom discussions are focused on using data to generate or invent concepts, rather than informing students of the concepts. Textual materials are used to apply, reinforce, review, and extend concepts rather than introduce them.
This approach encourages more active learning by students. 6 Guided Inquiry and the Learning-Cycle Approach Table 2: Characteristics of the Learning-Cycle Approach Phases of Goal Activities Questions Data Instruction Explore Explore relations Laboratory, What did you Gathering and patterns in Demonstrations, do? What did Data and data Simulations, you observe? Information Video Invent Develop and Lecture/ What does it Explaining Concept understand Discussion mean? Data and concepts with Information teachers/peers Apply Apply, reinforce, Readings, Using what Using Concept review, extend, Problem Sets, you know, Data and and understand Application answer the Information, concepts Questions, following… Provide Verification Labs Evidence Evaluate Assess Examinations, understanding Quizzes There are several characteristics that, when used in combination, establish the learning-cycle approach as a distinct instructional strategy. The Exploration Phase provides information, identified by the learning activity and used inductively by students during the Invention Phase. The key to this instructional approach is that the learner derives the concept from his or her observations of the behavior of a chemical system.
In the Application Phase, learners use the invented concept to verify and modify their ideas through the deductive process.