Abstract Through observing the chemistry classrooms and taking an investigation at the famous Saint John's Preparatory High School and Apollo High School in America, some distinct characteristics of American senior high school chemistry textbook and chemistry teaching were found:the contents of textbook included two thirds of theoretical knowledge and one third of practical knowledge, which was closely connecting to cutting edge technology and application; in classroom teachers focused on students' problem solving and evidence constructing by themselves, emphasized interpretation and relationship of knowledge, properly taught learning strategies and paid attention to perceptual intuition and model construction, etc.
