INTRODUCTION
The Physical Setting/Chemistry Core Curriculum has been
written to assist teachers and supervisors as they pre-
pare curriculum, instruction, and assessment for the
chemistry content and process skills in the New York
State Learning Standards for Mathematics, Science, and
Technology. This core curriculum is an elaboration of the
science content of that document and its key ideas and
performance indicators. Key ideas are broad, unifying,
general statements of what students need to know. The
performance indicators for each key idea are statements
of what students should be able to do to provide evi-
dence that they understand the key idea.
The Chemistry Core Curriculum presents major under-
standings that give more specific detail to the concepts
underlying the performance indicators in Standard 4.
In addition, portions of Standards 1, 2, 6, and 7 have
been elaborated to highlight skills necessary to allow
students to evaluate proposed explanations of natural
phenomena. The concepts and skills identified in the
introductions and the major understandings of each
key idea in the core curriculum will provide the mater-
ial from which Regents examination items will be
developed. Occasionally, examples are given in an
effort to clarify information. These examples are not
inclusive lists. Therefore, teachers should not feel lim-
ited by them.
This core is not a syllabus. This is a core for the prepara-
tion of high school curriculum, instruction, and assess-
ment. The lack of detail in this core is not to be seen as
a shortcoming. Rather, the focus on conceptual under-
standing in the core is consistent with the approaches
recommended in the National Science Education Standard
(National Research Council) and Benchmarks for Science
Literacy (American Association for the Advancement of
Science). The local courses designed using this core cur-
riculum are expected to prepare students to explain
both accurately and with appropriate depth concepts
and models relating to chemistry. The core addresses
only the content and skills to be assessed at the com-
mencement level by the Physical Setting/Chemistry
Regents examination. The core curriculum has been
prepared with the assumption that the content, skills,
and vocabulary as outlined in the Learning Standards for
Mathematics, Science, and Technology at the elementary
and intermediate levels have been taught previously.
Work in grades 9-12 must build on the knowledge,
understanding, and ability to do science that students
have acquired in their earlier grades.
It is essential that instruction focus on the understand-
ing of concepts, relationships, processes, mechanisms,
models, and applications. Less important is the memo-
rization of specialized terminology and technical
details. In attaining scientific literacy, students will be
able to demonstrate these understandings, generate
explanations, exhibit creative problem solving and rea-
soning, and make informed decisions. Future assess-
ments will test students’ ability to explain, analyze, and
interpret chemical processes and phenomena, and use
models and scientific inquiry. The major understand-
ings in this guide will also allow teachers more flexibil-
ity, making possible richer creativity in instruction and
greater variation in assessment. The general nature of
the major understandings in this core will encourage
the teaching of science for understanding, rather than
for memorization.
The order of presentation and numbering of all state-
ments in this guide are not meant to indicate any rec-
ommended sequence of instruction. Ideas have not
been prioritized, nor have they been organized to indi-
cate teaching time allotments or test weighting. Many
of the major understandings in this document are
stated in a general rather than specific manner. It is
expected that teachers will provide examples and
applications in their teaching/learning strategies to
bring about understanding of the major concepts
involved. Teachers are encouraged to help students
find and elaborate conceptual cross-linkages that inter-
connect many of the chemistry key ideas to each other,
and to other mathematics, science, and technology
learning standards.
Historical Content
The study of chemistry is rich in historical develop-
ment. The learning standards encourage the inclusion
not only of important concepts but also of the scientists
who were responsible for discovering them. Robert
Boyle, generally regarded as one of the fathers of mod-
ern chemistry, introduced systematic experimental
methods into the study of chemistry. John Dalton laid
down the tenets of the atomic theory at the beginning
of the 19th century. By mid-century Mendeleev had
completed most of his work organizing the Periodic
Chemistry 3