Introduction
of
the benefits of chemistry and chemical industry for the daily life of man
In our society the
general awareness of the benefits of chemistry and chemical industry for the
daily life of man is low. Many people, including students and pupils, do not
admire chemical industry products that improve their lives and make it possible
in its present form; on the other hand, whole chemistry is generally
regarded as unsafe, hazardous and non-ecological. Where are the explanations
for the phenomenon? There are, of course, many oversimplifying, modish, and
poorly researched articles in newspapers that distort the mindset of society
regarding chemistry. Yet the Chemistry Education system still bears a great
deal of liability. The Science Education material doesn't accurately reflect
their scientific and industrial uses and advantages. A few traditional
industrial systems are viewed mainly as complex schemes with a lot of details
to be memorized or, at most, as models locked up on the school hallway in the
show case. This results in a lack of interaction between the chemistry learned
from school and the applications of this science to the everyday life of the
pupils and reinforces the negative impression of chemistry. We are living in a
world that is changing rapidly. The traditional system of the society is
changed a lot through the development in technology and science. There is a big
emerging phenomenon of ways of working and new opportunities for everyone. The
discipline of the chemistry is also changing because of the changing world.
Even the role of the chemistry and the place for the application are also
changing. So, there is blurry future for the chemical sciences. It is very
important for the organization s to look a step ahead and plan everything
before time so they can develop in future and adapt in order to stay relevant.
It is the matter of understanding that how chemical science can develop and
evolve in order to improve everyday living for next one or two decades.
The cities project
of
the benefits of chemistry and chemical industry for the daily life of man
Teachers of chemistry in
secondary school play a vital role in supplying their students with a clear
picture in chemistry and its applications. But the challenges are that – some
of these teachers learned chemistry many years ago and it is always heard that
there is insufficient room for research and the supply of appealing teaching
material. These colleagues need educational material and assets to provide
appropriate training for their pupils and to awaken in them a greater interest
and enthusiasm for chemistry. In addition to the normal courses in university
education, future teachers as well as high school teachers requires preparation
and continuing training and development courses that address the current
distance in their studies and everyday school life and the “real” industrial
and applied research world. The CITIES (Chemistry and Industry for
Teachers in European Schools) Comenius project began in November 2006,
sponsored by ten European universities and chemical societies. CITIES strive to
create a curriculum program that can help teachers make their chemistry courses
more enjoyable by experiencing the subject in their daily life. In addition to
the basic knowledge on European facets of chemistry business and chemistry
education, CITIES will provide course content with "hands-on" tests
and a homepage showcasing people and products, interactively relating daily
advantages, drug creation and their chemical history. The training package
contains five following modules:
Module 1: Framework Europe.
General basic knowledge on EU policies (such
as the Lisbon Strategy or the Bologna Declaration), with particular regard to
the history of the chemistry and chemical industries and to developments in
European ''educational space''.
Module 2: Chemistry changes everything
The scope and influence
of the European chemistry industry, its employees and chemistry products based
on the European economy, the daily life of citizens, the environment, and the
service sector.
Module 3: Commerce and
innovation – our future
Present and future
developments in the industrial implementation of chemical engineering, with
special reference to the European environment (covering areas such as
nanotechnology, biotechnology or substance and energy production, Green
Chemistry etc.).
Module 4: Chemistry –
bringing it alive.
New, technically
centered, engaging methodologies of teaching chemistry to a broad range of
pupils with diverse qualifications and preferences, including those who are
preparing for a chemistry career and others who would simply be
"users" with chemistry applications and voters in elections.
Module 5: Europe – the
educational and training arena.
Different methods to
European vocational and tertiary chemistry education, with particular reference
to student mobility and student work experience, taking into consideration the
employment prospects of graduates in a global financial system.
Applied chemistry in
school education – bringing it alive
Inside the fourth section
of “Chemistry -bringing it alive”, a stack of experiments related to chemistry
was initiated for further knowledge and education of chemistry teachers which
was developed by the members from Germany of the CITIES project. The focus of
the experiment was based on applied and industrial chemistry. As same as the
collaboration which happened before on the development of the experiments done
in the microwave oven, the department related to the studies of Teaching and
Didactics of Chemistry was inquired about the verification of the completed
experiments in a practical course for the teachers. They provided the required
instructions for the experiment and a related question paper for the people
taking part. The final result of this process from the course realization and
experience will be added in the final version of the CITIES course attributes
and further will be given to the teachers of Europe.
Practical laboratory
course for chemistry teachers
The teachers from the
secondary school of chemistry situated in Prague showed their interest in a
practical laboratory courses which were performed time to time In the Faculty
of Science connected to Department of Teaching and Didactics of Chemistry at
the campus of Charles University Prague. These courses provided help in
focusing both on the unpretentious experiments along with substances of nature,
food and products used in daily life, and further on the remarkable appealing
method of experiment with functions of motivation. The new course of practical
relied over the study of applied and industrial chemistry experiments which
were provided by colleagues from Germany which included the topics related to
waste recycling, biofuels or plastics. Some changes were applied like addition
or extraction due to the reason of availability of different chemicals and
working conditions at the secondary schools in German and Czech. The
applications which were not applicable were changed by some older methods of
experiments of the similar nature. The instruction printed was further
translated and developed. The experiments were settled into four groups in
which each group carries its own standing point which was supervised by a
lecturer who was providing advised and help where it was required. the course
took a total time of 3 hours which was accepted by 15 teachers, the
participants implemented the experiments in their own capacity and briefed
about the results, its possible behavior and outcomes and the issues connected
with the lectures
Future
of
the benefits of chemistry and chemical industry for the daily life of man:
The traditional system of
the society is changed a lot through the development in technology and science.
There is a big emerging phenomenon of ways of working and new opportunities for
everyone. The discipline of the chemistry is also changing because of the
changing world. The future of the chemistry and the impacts of its on society
can not be explained in one frame. There is a development of 4 possible scenarios.
These scenarios are not establishing for the future that could be prefer not
even the offer to have the list of possibilities. But this is actually an
objective to challenge the leaders and management in chemical science in order
to give them a line so they can have strategical conversation about the future
and can act according to a plan and their assumption to make a track to follow
on. In order to benefit the people around the globe, they can help different
institute in chemistry world and help them in taking proactive decisions in order
to shape the future with your own desire.
Scenario 1: chemistry
saves the world.
The inventions and
discoveries in chemistry is the key enabler of the world where we exist. Today
there are many challenges that our beloved earth is facing like climate
changes, water shortage and scarcity of natural resources and giving health
care to the population. In this, there are answers to many of questions like
how can chemistry resolve some of the greatest challenge of the world
Scenario 2: push button
chemistry.
The way the structure of
the organization is establishes and their collaboration with each other is
quite change because of the development in chemistry. Many organization sectors
like traditional business models or the manufacturing models are changes and
somehow decentralized in order to make more diverse market area. There is
always an increasing demand for the personalized goods and products. There is
more development in chemistry as entrepreneurial culture. This scenario focus
on the area where chemistry is automated or decentralized.
Scenario 3: A world
without chemist.
Chemical sciences existed
as the collection mini subjects and the community of chemist. The pipe line of
future chemist will start to dry up if the chemical sciences will not longer be
here in the world. This scenario explores the world without chemist.
Conclusion
of
the benefits of chemistry and chemical industry for the daily life of man:
The Science Education
material doesn't accurately reflect their scientific and industrial uses and
advantages. A few traditional industrial systems are viewed mainly as complex
schemes with a lot of details to be memorized or, at most, as models locked up
on the school hallway in the show case. This results in a lack of interaction between
the chemistry learned from school and the applications of this science to the
everyday life of the pupils and reinforces the negative impression of
chemistry. The discipline of the chemistry is also changing because of the
changing world. Even the role of the chemistry and the place for the
application are also changing. So, there is blurry future for the chemical
sciences. It is very important for the organization s to look a step ahead and
plan everything before time so they can develop in future and adapt in order to
stay relevant.
References of
the benefits of chemistry and chemical industry for the daily life of man:
Gros, L. & Drasar, P.
& Frankowicz, M. & Maciejowska, I. & Wallace, R. (2007). Equipping
Secondary School Teachers with the Tools for Inspiring the Next Generation of
Young Chemists. In.: Proceedings of the 2nd European Variety in Chemistry
Education, 2, 195-198.
Šulcová, R. &
Böhmová, H. (2007). Nontraditional experiments in organic and practical
chemistry. Prague: Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science.
Bader, H. J. & Lühken, A. (1999). Wooden
materials with know-how. Naturwissenschaften im Unterricht Chemie, 10, 50,
33-36.
Baur, V. & Melle, I.
& Bader, H. J. (2000). Herstellung von Biodiesel im Schülerversuch.
CHEMKON, 7, 143-144.
Böhmová, H. & al.
(2008). Current conception of the experimental education of chemistry at
primary and secondary schools: Spring 2008. [online 6. 6. 2008]
URL:
http://www.natur.cuni.cz/~kudch/main/JPD3/10experimentu.pd