Knowing words’ origins helps students unravel chemistry

By Ollie Hunter2018-09-26T13:40:00

Source: © Shutterstock

Teach the origins of chemical vocabulary

Language pervades all that we do in education. It is in the textbooks and in the teacher- and pupil-talk we encounter every day. It is so ubiquitous that its importance, rather like the air we breathe, is taken for granted, but take it away and everything soon becomes very difficult. Reflecting on language used in the classroom, and taking a more constructivist and interpretivist view of science and language, will allow a more realistic representation of the nature of science and how chemical ideas develop.

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