Most of us agree that science lessons at school aren’t the most interesting classes in the world. They can even bring dread into the hearts of many students not looking forward to the complex ideas they have to get their heads around.
Nottingham University, England are attempting to turn that idea around though, and make Chemistry more interesting using up-to-date technqiues that appeal to a wider audience and generally keep our attention.
They have put together a website containing the periodic table and all its 120 elements called PeriodicVideos.com. For each element they have created a YouTube video that shows off some of the different features of each one. Although some may be less than exciting, others, such as potassium and hydrogen, present you with satisfying explosions to watch.
The videos seem to be going down well, with numerous positive comments being posted and the view rate going past the 100,000 mark. Professor Poliakof who stars in the videos said:
In the space of a few hours I lectured to more people than I had in my entire life
Read more at the Daily Mail
Matthew’s Opinion
I keep hearing about how the number of science students making it to University level is falling. I’m sure this is in no small part due to just how dull the lessons at school can be and how that turns students off the subjects.
Kids get excited about chemistry when they find out they will be using a Bunson burner, or about physics when they realize they get to build some circuits. But that is just a small part of many courses and updating them to use current technology would certainly help.
Hopefully the YouTube generation will start getting more content to watch that is “cool” like the periodic table. If this can be carried through to lessons in the classroom then we may be able to stop the rot of science students.
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