I don’t understand the order of our chemistry textbooks. I mean, I do- but I don’t when planning an inquiry-based curriculum. Historically, we discovered gas laws before we knew what an electron was. So WHY do we teach electrons first?
Again, I get it. But teaching chemistry in the order of the textbooks is not required when building a chemistry curriculum. I have taught chemistry both ways- in the order of the book and in more historical order. Personally, I think the historical order is best. It builds a better understanding and allows for richer discussions about “how” we know what we know.
I did not come up with this order. It was introduced to me in the summer of 2013 as a Modeling Chemistry workshop. Chemistry modeling is a set of best practices for teaching chemistry.
I no longer teach this order because I’m at a school where I have to teach the same order as the other four chemistry teachers. Before I moved to my current school I also started switching things up because we had a large population of students that were school hopping- so they’d end up with gaps in their knowledge because I was the only one in my small rural community teaching this order.
Below you’ll find a traditional sequence as well as a more historical sequence for teaching chemistry.
TRADITIONAL SEQUENCE
Matter & Measurement
Atomic Structure
The Periodic Table
Bonding
Reactions
Stoichiometry
Gas Laws
Solutions
Thermochemistry
Acids & Bases
HISTORICAL SEQUENCE
Measurement
Gas Laws
Thermochemistry
Matter
The Atom + Periodic Table
Bonding
Reactions
Stoichiometry
Solutions
Acids & Bases
I still believe the historical order is the most helpful when students are first learning chemistry. Especially because they learn a lot of chemistry in middle school. So we don’t HAVE to start matter. They already know what that word means. Yes, there are still misconceptions. I guess I just have very fond memories of students being excited to finally “do chemistry”.
If you’re looking at that list and wondering “why is stoichiometry so far down? How do you do gas stoichiometry in unit 2 if they don’t understand stoichiometry yet? The answer is – you don’t. You revisit gases during the stoichiometry unit. And honestly, students seemed so much better prepared for stoichiometry when I taught in the historical order.
If you are intrigued I would highly encourage you to check out the American Modeling Teachers Association’s website. They break down their curriculum order further.
How about you? What do you think is the best sequence to teach high school chemistry? Do you teach chemistry in a “non-traditional” order? Do you have questions about the “historical” order?
Want more details about each topic?
The Chemistry Particle’s Guide to Teaching High School Chemistry
