L’ús de l’experimentació química com a eina didáctica

Abstract

The experimentation at the micro-scale level is a methodology that began to develop 30 years ago in the United States in different areas of chemistry: analytical, organic and inorganic. Of the different options available, in this study we have chosen the replacement of traditional tests with test tube for drop tests- This technique implies a diminution in residues generated, in completion time —allowing this way to have more time to think about the obtained result— , in economic cost and an augmentation in personal safety. This research is divided into two parts: a first part where a research of different experiments has been made in order to adaptate various concepts of the subject of Chemistry Fundamentals course, which is given in the first year of the studies from the science faculty of Universitat de Girona, and a second part, corresponding to the subject of Integrated Scientific Tools 3, where different experiments requiring test tubes has been adopted in a micro-scale level. First of all, with the subject Foundations of chemistry, an initial research has been made to encounter the proper experiments to be made according to the subjects of the course. Some of the experiments have been directly discarded due to the inability to implement them, either for the lack of material or the reagent conditions. Only fourteen of the experiments have been selected, and they have been tested with different quantities and concentrations of the reagents. The essays carried out had the objective of optimizing the reactions to finally acquire a qualitatively and visually identifiable result. The same process has been made for the practical subject Integrated Scientific Tools even though it has been simpler because of the guide notes it is based on and the changes have been applied to the reactions already proposed. The work it may have a considerable applicability in the education world. The idea of incorporating kits with all the required reagents in some jars with droppers and their corresponding support files and cleaning material may become a quite simple, understanding, creative and entertaining way of teaching lessons. Even contributing a video from University of Girona to show what this methodology consists of and how does it work