The class discussion versions, like the one above, are big, often poorly lit, and difficult to read from the back of the class so the students always have other copies at their desks.
I love the periodic table. It represents several of the underlying organizational principles of matter. I remember, however, being annoyed in high school and college by those two breakout lines at the bottom. Some tables have spaces and labels and arrows in the main chart where the lower two lines of elements should be. The one above has only asterisks.
Like the neighbor's barking dog, I learned to put up with the chart above. But then I got angry and did something about it since I realized it had that form only to fill a standard paper size. My wall is an educational canvas so I can cut it up and make it correct.
The lighting is worse and the details are unreadable from even the front row but now I understand it. The numbers are all in counting order and the electron configurations show a clear pattern as subshells are progressively filled.
Maybe I get the periodic table better now just because of my age and experience. But maybe I'd have gotten it earlier had somebody given me one I can understand easily.
Let's remove every barrier to our students' understanding of science. Drop the algebra if we can do it another way. Remove the ponderous numbers when appropriate. Focus on the big picture understandings by making the other stuff easier.
But first, cut and paste your periodic table - it's tough enough already.
No comments:
Post a Comment