The natural enthusiasm that elementary students have toward learning science is not properly leveraged by our current school curricula. Students take in-depth science courses only in high school, years after many have lost interest in learning. The scientists of the future will need to begin studying in great depth, much earlier in life, in order to keep up with the accelerating pace of discovery and technological innovation. This study provides evidence that a specially-designed, kid-friendly chemistry curriculum, can allow students 8-11 years old to begin achieving college-level understanding of chemistry after just a few hours of instruction. The 5-week study involved 63 students from grades 3-5 from an economically disadvantaged school in New Jersey. The unique curriculum used custom visualizations, organic chemistry model building, and interactive biochemistry modeling software. The striking accomplishments of the elementary school students after only 3.5 hours of instruction show that radical enhancements in science education are possible, simply by providing young learners with a content-rich and well-structured curriculum. An assessment at the conclusion of the program showed that many students acquired the ability to interpret organic chemistry nomenclature, to distinguish between correct and incorrect organic chemistry structures, and to predict bonding behavior of unfamiliar atoms, based on their position in the periodic table. The experience also instilled in students a remarkable enthusiasm towards learning high-level chemistry at an early age.

Teaching college organic chemistry to elementary school students: A new model for early chemistry learning

256th National Meeting (2018)

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