2013 № 2

The Magazine editor-in-chief reflects on what principally new has appeared in the Russian education.

The Deputy Head of the Legal Department of the administration of the Trade Union of Employees of People’s Education and Science of the Russian Federation answers our readers’ questions.

Contemporary approach to the classification of inorganic substances is proposed, in which the bases and acids refer to one class in relation to their composition, but are opposite according to their chemical properties. Amphoteric nature is discussed as the property not only of bases, but also of acids. Disadvantages of the amphoteric nature index, used in chemical literature are analyzed. It is proposed to classify amphoteric bases to the low-amphoteric and the high-amphoteric. The most common classifications of inorganic chemical reactions to basic-acidic and oxidation-reduction reactions are analyzed. The simple rules for independent composition of half-reactions for oxidation-reduction reactions are proposed. The comparison of the methods for determining stoichiometric coefficients in oxidation-reduction reactions proposed in educational books is carried out.

Some scientific ideas of methods of teaching chemistry are criticizing in the article. These methods of teaching are often taken by teachers as undisputable truth. The article says about negative results of using these methods of teaching chemistry.

In the given article one of the active methods of training focused on getting students ready to solve practical tasks and to weasel one’s way out of different real-life situations, which demand chemical knowledge and attainments, is examined. Goals and case-method essence are described, case types, their structure, approaches to use a case-method, teacher functions and students activity, as advantages and limitations of the given method usage as well, are examined.

We offer a design of a chemistry and English language integrated lesson. The 9th Form students accomplished a lab on the subject of “Oxygen Production and Study its physical properties. Oxygen identification”, got acquainted with biographies of H. Cavendish and John Priestley.

The work presents the main approaches to the use of integration’s technology of educational disciplines as an effective form of work with children gifted in chemistry during introductory stage of natural-science cycle’s objects learning on the example of the lesson «What is time?».

It is more convenient to peruse an idea of tolerance within the framework of objects of historical and social science cycle, yet a chemistry lesson can also become a lesson of tolerance. The author offers such a lesson design.

The author offers a design of a lesson-workshop for the 9th Form students. The designed lesson is sufficiently universal, and it can be conducted while pursuing any program and any textbook.

The design of the third lesson in the 8th Form chemistry course is offered in the article. At this lesson it is important not only to present a new material to students, but to make knowledge, obtained by students earlier while studying nature studies, biology, and physics, actual. The lesson goals are as follows: forming such ideas as “phenomenon”, “chemical phenomenon”, “physical phemonenon”; promoting development of skills to draw the conclusions from phenomena observed, to compare, and analyze.

They pay a lot of attention to redox reactions at school. Basing on concrete examples, the article shows a practical opportunity of using the metal potential for deeper study of elective course “Metal Chemistry: Solving Metals in Acids and Metal Corrosion”. Electromotive force (e.m.f.) calculation for redox reactions gives a theoretical basis for the practical works of students.

The article deals with the analysis of modern methods of the arrangement of coefficients in the equations of reduction – oxidation reactions of different types. The authors put forward some didactic specifications of more precise arrangement of coefficients oriented to help students not to make bad mistakes. The proposed didactic material may be of some help to modern teachers in training their students (pupils) for taking the national exam in chemistry.

The authors share their experience regarding the organizing the work of a cyclical methodics association “The laboratory of unsolved tasks”, in which teachers of chemistry, biology, physics, informatics, geography, and a psychologist participate. The activity of the association is aimed at the solution of general tasks of didactic, psychological nature. Psychological compatibility consideration allows likeminded-colleagues unlocking their potential better.

A practical work on the determination of the weak acid dissociation constant by the conductometric method has been described. In this work they measure electrical conductivity of a strong acid and a weak acid (subacid) in case of a similar concentration. In an assumption, that anion mobility is the same (such an assumption can give the error in the amount of 20 %), the ratio of electrical conductivity of strong and weak acid (subacid) of an equal concentration is equal to the degree of dissociation, from where the dissociation constant may be found following the Ostwald dilution law. This method can be applied to determine the dissociation constant, which is more then 3-10-6 and gives the general relative error around 20 %.

Sums occupies an important place in the chemical education, because this is one of the training patterns, by means of which they provide the deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the material by students, and the skills of using acquired knowledge independently is developed. The development of the system of the workshop classes on the problem solving for the 8th-11th Form students is offered. Such classes help a teacher to organize a full-bodied cognitive activity of students, which promotes the students to develop steadfast skills to solve problems.

In some syntheses the presence of water-containing components happens to be undesirable. The authors offer a new method of matter drainage, featuring a number of advantages, – with the help of a microwave oven.

Describes a simple way of storing bromine in school laboratory that helps avoid natural loss of bromine happening in storage due to its high volatility.

To expand students’ knowledge on the history of the Russian chemical science and to turn them to the reading of supplementary books the author conducts a game dedicated to D.I. Mendeleev. The game consists of two rounds.

The history of the development of oil chemistry I our country in XIX-first half of XX centuries has been analyzed. The essential part in the development of oil chemistry at that time was played by works of D.I.Mendeleev, V.V.Markovnikov, F.F.Beilstein, M.I.Konovalov, N.D.Zelinsky, S.S.Namyotkin, V.N.Ipatyev. It has been shown that research in the field of oil chemistry had not only applied character but it promoted the development of theoretical ideas in the field of organic chemistry.