Identificat’ions: A Battle Card Game to Learn Chemical Tests and Practice Observation and Reasoning

Abstract

Observation and reasoning are fundamental in scientific education as key aspects of the scientific method, a bedrock upon which students build their understanding of natural phenomena. This paper explores the multifaceted challenges that students encounter as they face some aspects of the scientific method. Helping students do precise and complete observations will help them structure their reasoning, and by teaching them the right terminology, they will be able to communicate effectively about it. Chemical tests offer a practical means to identify chemical substances by exploiting their inherent reactivity. Observations during chemical tests are crucial to correctly determine the analyte nature. These tests are invaluable tools within middle and high school curricula, allowing educators to explore topics ranging from the macroscopic description and characterization of matter to chemical transformations. In this paper, we introduce a free innovative educational card game, focusing on ten essential chemical tests and their associated vocabulary. The game, fully available in the Supporting Information in English, French, and Spanish, aims to familiarize students with these identification tests and reinforce the importance of the observation step within the scientific method. This approach, tested with 25 Franco-Mexican middle school students (equivalent to ninth grade in the US), not only enhances active learning but also furnishes students with valuable scientific skills, nurturing their academic journey and fostering a deeper understanding of the scientific method. A group of faculty members played the game as well to validate the proposal and found that Identificat'ions is a precise, useful, and aesthetically pleasing game.