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Chemistry Meets Choreography to Enhance Student Comprehension
A former science teacher helps kids dance their way to
understanding.
by
Jane S. Burke
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Credit: Wesley Bedrosian
For years, as the creative-schools coordinator of a rural public school, I
worked to get the arts integrated into all areas of study. Convinced by all I
had read about multiple intelligences that this would result in better teaching
and learning, I managed to persuade teachers to open their classrooms to
resident artists.
And, as a former chemistry teacher, when I was asked to substitute teach in a
high school chemistry course, I jumped at the chance. Despite the misgivings of
some of my teaching colleagues, I became the first high school science teacher
in the district -- and possibly anywhere -- to share her classroom with a
resident artist. For two weeks, I brought in a professional dancer so that we
would explore the abstract ideas behind chemical reactions through movement.
We pushed all the chairs to the edges of the room to create space when the
dancer arrived. Because he knew no chemistry, my students and I had to explain
to him about ionic, covalent, and metallic bonds and the types of chemical
reactions. To help him create meaningful movements for the class, he constantly
asked the students "why" and "how" -- how electrons behave, how strong one bond
is compared to another, what polar means. Listening to the students' answers, I
was impressed by their
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