THE STATES-OF-MATTER APPROACH (SOMA) TO INTRODUCTORY CHEMISTRY

Abstract

Chemistry, as an upper-secondary school subject for all, should aim to supply students with chemical literacy and chemical culture, to cultivate higher-order cognitive skills, and to be a useful, interesting, and enjoyable subject. A recently proposed chemistry programme for all students in grades ten and eleven (ages 15-17) in Greece, introduces chemistry through the separate study of the three states of matter [the states-of-matter approach (SOMA)]. There are three major units in the programme, namely: air and gases; salt, salts, and solids; water and liquids. The gaseous state is introduced first because it is the best prelude to the study of atoms and molecules; only a few non-metals and compounds, with small and simple molecules are studied. Ions, ionic bonds, or intermolecular forces are not involved until the unit of solids, as only the covalent bond is needed in the unit of gases. By placing the solid state second, we can study liquid solutions as well as acids and bases within the unit of liquids. The programme then moves into the applications of chemistry: plastics and polymers; drugs; foodstuffs; energy. Inorganic and organic chemistry are partially integrated. The overall approach is intermediate between a formal (‘academist’) and a science-technology-environment-society (STES) (‘practicalist’) one, while constructivist teaching and learning is incorporated. [Chem. Educ. Res. Pract. Eur.: 2000, 1, 161-168]