Operation Chemistry

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Operation Chemistry will be a national elementary and middle school (grades 4-8) teacher training project directed by the American Chemical Society, modelled after Operation Physics of the American Institute of Physics. The latter project developed materials and worked with teams of teachers, university professors and science supervisors to improve the teaching of physics (physical science) at these grade levels. This first phase of Operation Chemistry will develop the teaching materials for the chemistry component of middle grade physical science to be used in the later phases of teacher training. The materials will be developed by teams of experienced teachers and professors at the school and university levels. Dr. Paul Kelter of the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh in conjunction with Dr. Ann Benbow of the American Chemical Society (manager of the Pre High School Program) will direct the preparation of twelve modular teacher workshop books. The chemistry content of the physical science which is taught in these grade levels has not, as yet, been well-defined in the available texts or literature. A very knowledgable group of chemists and teachers have been selected to accomplish this task. These materials will be field-tested in schools at the above- mentioned grades to determine their appropriateness in terms of level and implementability. They will be hands-on experiential activities based on the philosophy of inquiry and discovery. These materials will subsequently be used in the second phase of the project to "train" teams of teachers, administrators, science supervisors and industrial chemists to disseminate the materials and lead workshops for other teachers. This projects funds the first phase of the project, the development and field-testing of the materials. About 49% of the NSF request for funds has been cost-shared by the American Chemical Society and the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh.