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WWC Report: Potentially Positive Effects for Middle School Curriculum

Latest Report from the US Department of Education's "What Works Clearinghouse."

Report Summary

Effectiveness

Chemistry That Applies was found to have potentially positive effects on general science achievement for middle school students.

Program Description

Chemistry That Applies is an instructional unit designed to help students in grades 8–10 understand the law of conservation of matter. It consists of 24 lessons organized in four clusters. Working in groups, students explore four chemical reactions: burning, rusting, the decomposition of water, and the reaction of baking soda and vinegar. As part of the unit, students conduct experiments in which they cause these reactions to happen, obtain and record data in individual notebooks, analyze the data, and use evidence-based arguments to explain the data. The instructional unit engages the students in a structured sequence of hands-on laboratory investigations interwoven with other forms of instruction.

Research

One study of Chemistry That Applies that falls within the scope of the Science review protocol meets What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards. The one study included more than 4,000 students in grade 8 in 10 middle schools in Maryland. Based on this study, the WWC considers the extent of evidence for Chemistry That Applies on middle school students to be small for the general science achievement domain.