GEMS project

3. If I told you that lemon juice was an acid as well, what would you think a characteristic of an acid would be? Prompt-What would be the first thought in your mind if you drank lemon juice? Sour.

4. Do you know what a base is, not related to baseball? No.

5. Do you know what antacids are? No.

6. Does the word antacid give you a clue about what it is used for? To kill ants.

7. If we paired antacid and lemon juice together, what do you think would happen? (Before I asked the question, I explained that antacids were used to cancel out the acid when we have stomach aches. I described the color changes as well.) I think you said earlier that they would change colors.

8. Would they combine to make a new substance or not mix at all, like oil and vinegar? I think they would separate.

9. Acids are the opposite to bases and neutrals are in the middle. If you add lemon juice to antacid, you would end up with a neutral. Do you think this applies to all acidic and basic substances that are added together? I think other things would be different.

10. What do you think would happen if you mixed a neutral substance (like water) to an acid (like lemon juice)? It would be bubbly.

11. What do you think would happen if you mixed a neutral substance (again like water) to a base (like crushed up antacids in water)? I’m not sure.

12. Do you know what a pH scale is? No.

13. Do you think the strength of a strong acid and a strong base match each other? I think they would be the same.

Analysis

I immediately knew that this subject would be complex for a fourth grade student. I decided to use a specific student for this interview and analysis. She was the subject of my Qualitative Reading Inventory for RDG 5345 and performed exceptionally well. She is on a high Middle School reading level, so I thought that she may have a better understanding of my questioning about acids and bases.

1. Her answer was immediate, so I knew she had some background with chemistry lessons or information from home.

2. My first question was, “Do you know what an acid is?” and I revised it after she gave no immediate response. She was aware that oranges and other citrus fruits have acidic qualities.

3. I think the word “characteristic” gave her some trouble. I revised the question to find out if her senses reinforced her understanding of acidic qualities.

4. I remember the chapter from Why Science? that describes cultural literacy and I think that society is more aware of acids than bases. Bases seem more complex than acids. She had no previous knowledge of bases.

5 & 6. I thought that antacids would be easier to describe than drain cleaner because of the ant- prefix. I found out later that anti- would have been an easier term for her to understand. Although, killing ants is a perfectly acceptable interpretation of the word for a younger student.

7. I explained the lesson to her a few days before the interview and she remembered that each acid, base, and neutral have a different color. She also remembered that mixing an acid with a base would make a new color.

8. This question first informed me of some misunderstanding. I thought this question would be simple because she knew that an acid mixed with a base would make a new color. I didn’t take into account that she has never seen the actual lesson plan and is only relying on her background knowledge and guesswork. This would be a good question to ask right before the start of the lesson.

9. I realized that this was an abstract question, but it is a great hypothesis to prove or disprove.

10. I think her answer to this question was influenced by the term acid and not lemon juice. I think if I had changed the question to “What would happen if you mixed water and lemon juice?” she would have answered differently. But she did start thinking about possible additional qualities of acids.

11. Bases were hard for her to understand in this interview. I think doing the actual lesson would help with her perception.

12. She had no previous knowledge of a pH scale. I anticipated this answer because it is a more advanced subject.

13. I just wanted to know if she thought acids were stronger than bases or vice-versa. I have always imagined acids to be stronger than bases, but it is not true. Maybe I am just more familiar with acidic substances than basic substances.

Interview 2

Background:

I interviewed a fourth grade boy named Devin. He is an average student and seems to be interested in science. He has had previous experiences with science. However, he has not been introduced to any type of chemistry.

Interview:

Interviewer: Casey Interviewee: Devin

Q: Do you know what chemistry is?

A: Ummm, a type science where you do experiments.

Q: Do you know what an acid is?

A: Something that is poisonous and something that you should not play with.

Q: If I told you that lemon juice was an acid, what do you think a characteristic of an acid would be?

A: Lemon juice is a chemical. I think it is used for cooking and for experiments

Q: Do you know what a base is?

A: A base is something that you use in science.

Q: Do you know what antacid is?

A: No

Q: If we mixed antacid and lemon juice together, what do you think would happen?

A: I don’t know. Maybe a science experiment.

Q: Do you know what a pH scale is?

A: No.

Reflections:

To start the interview I asked Devin if he had any prior knowledge or experience with science in general. He said that he had been introduced to science but has done limited experiments. I wanted to know if know if he was familiar with the concept of science. Going off his prior knowledge I asked him if he knew what chemistry was. He did not know the concept of chemistry. I feel that this is due to the lack of science experiments and he has completed within the classroom. As I continued the interview, I noticed that he was interested in learning about chemistry and was trying to concentrate on his answers. I continued with the questions about acids and bases. According to his answers, I do not feel that he understood the concept of these solutions. He took the words acid and base literally. The word acid he took as being something that is poison and not something is commonly used in the kitchen. Also, he used base as “something that is in science.” Applying that word to general science. I think that he was applying this word to general science because he knew we were discussing a type of science.

Although Devin did not fully understand the concept of chemistry, acids, bases, and the pH scale, I do think that in time and with further instruction and practice that Devin will understand what acids, bases and neutrals are where they fall on the pH scale.