Chemistry for Life and Society
One of our goals of science education is to enthuse and nurture students to be scientifically literate in helping them make informed decisions and take responsible actions in their daily lives. This could be unpacked into three dimensions – at the personal/functional, cultural/civic, and the professional/economic level.
How can we design meaningful learning experiences to highlight that the discipline of Science is more than just a body of knowledge? More specifically, how can the study of Chemistry to INspire our students to INquire like chemists and INnovate?
In this issue, we introduce how the use of a real-world context can help our students use scientific principles and reasoning to understand, analyse and evaluate real-world systems, as well as recognising that the application of scientific knowledge to problem solving could be influenced by other considerations such as economic, social, environmental and ethical factors.
How your lithium-ion battery could be an explosive danger
The spate of fire incidents related to personal mobility devices (PMDs) in recent years can be used as a bridge for educators to help foster an awareness of the ethical implications of the application of Chemistry in society as well as guiding them in making informed decisions in their daily lives.
Educators can make the study of the charging and discharging processes in a rechargeable fuel cell more authentic by introducing the safety and design considerations in the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries that are used to power many of the electronic devices we use in our daily lives.
Some possible ideas to explore:
After learning the characteristics of both the galvanic and the electrolytic cells, the concept of a rechargeable battery can be introduced (LO 12(k))
Educators can revisit the writing of half equations here as well, by using relevant examples from tutorial questions etc.
Introducing a real-world context to rechargeable batteries
Engage: House catching fire due to charging of e-bikes to be used as a trigger to get them thinking about the implications overcharging batteries.
Educators can elicit responses based on what is mentioned in the article. “Users should avoid overcharging the battery on their devices and leaving them to charge overnight. They should also place the batteries on hard flat surfaces to allow heat to dissipate”. Some examples of questions you can ask:
What is considered overcharging of a battery?
How do we know whether or not are we overcharging our batteries?
Relating to what is mentioned in the video, educators can have a short discussion with the class about the importance of having safety considerations in the design of battery packs used in electronic devices (where more than one cell is packed). E.g. battery packs in their laptops
Here is where students can better appreciate how the principles of electrochemistry can be applied to their daily lives to help them navigate the world around them – their decisions to purchase legitimate chargers and batteries, looking out for battery labels on their electronic devices, passing on these knowledge to the people around them etc.
A detailed example of how such a real-world context can be tied in with the various electrochemistry concepts and learning outcomes in the syllabus is detailed in this lesson plan that was designed by one of our STs from Raffles Institution, Jacinta, with inspiration from her fellow colleague, Ng Yee Ling. Both of who are also members of our 2018 H2 NLC POS team.
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