Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/42291
A BUDGET-MINDED CHEMISTRY TEACHER'S SUPPLY REQUEST ITEM: 2L hydrochloric acid (conc) 50g copper chloride 100g sodium chloride 150g calcium chloride 500 mL acetic acid (conc) 25g silver nitrate 5g magnesium 15g zinc Total $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ PRICE: 80.00 6.33 0.78 11.85 15.30 82.99 3.97 5.85 207.07 MINIMAL COST PER STUDENT LAB TEAM Microscope Electric hotplate Electronic balance Total per team: Total per class of 10 teams: $ $ $ $ $ 385.00 263.00 196.00 844.00 8440.00 Equipment does not need to be replaced every year and can be shared by teachers unless there's a scheduling issue. It used to be that students would work in teams of two; now, with 30 to 40 students per lab, teams are often double the size. ABOVE: Kevork Madooglu checks the results of Joshua Leyva and Ryan Catalasan's experiment in Burbank. Madooglu believes students should view science as though they SCIENCE EDUCATION HAS BEEN PUSHED TO THE BACK BURNER IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY. KEVORK MADOOGLU, BURBANK TEACHERS ASSOCIATION are detectives figuring out how to solve a mystery. "I tell them they should be like the scientists on 'CSI,' trying to solve a problem and explain why something is happening, which leads to solving the next puzzle. When science is taught this way, it's exciting and stimulates the mind." Unfortunately, he says, science has become less about solving mysteries and more about memorizing facts for tests, which is turning students off to science. September 2011 / www.cta.org 17