Abstract:

Guided inquiry is an approach or methodology which allows students to seek and engage with a variety of ideas to increase their understanding in pursuit of knowledge and greater awareness. Guided inquiry is a planned, supervised and targeted intervention into developing information literacy and enhancing learning. This approach or methodology to learning provides a means by which teachers are able to tailor learning experiences and opportunities, resources and processes to the needs and abilities of each student according to intended curriculum learning outcomes.

In our previous study we measured the effectiveness of this method comparing the guided inquiry with the traditional method for the teaching of the constitution of the matter. 357 Greek students of the 8th grade of secondary education participated in the research. The statistical analysis showed a significant supremacy of the guided inquiry against the traditional teaching method.

In this study we present a guided inquiry teaching plan aiming to reveal the role of the chemical structure to the properties of the substances. Students investigate how the deformation of the quartz crystal in the watches affects their operation.
Quartz crystal is a piezoelectric material that generates an electrical charge when mechanical pressure is applied. These crystals also vibrate when a voltage from an outside source, such as a battery, is applied. This vibration is caused due to the deformation of the crystal. The most common quartz crystals inside watches today are miniature encapsulated tuning forks which vibrate in various frequencies.

The proposed teaching plan includes the analytical steps, according to the principles of guided inquiry method, as well as the worksheets for the students.

References:
[1] Ellis, A., Geselbracht, M., Johnson, B., Lisensky, G., Robinson, W., Teaching general chemistry: A material science companion, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 1993.
[2] Seymour, B.R. and Kauffman, B. G. Piezoelectric polymers: Direct converters of work to electricity, Journal of Chemical Education, 1990, 67, 763.
[3] Vlassi, M., Karaliota, A., The effectiveness of the guided inquiry method in the teaching of the structure of matter to 8th grade students, International Technology, Education and Development Conference, (INTED 2010), Valencia (Spain), 8-10 March, 2010.

Keywords:

Chemical structure, quartz, guided inquiry.