As an important carrier of traditional Chinese culture,inkpad production techniques have been selected as a national intangible cultural heritage,and its development process reflects the deep integration of cultural connotation and chemical technology. This paper summarizes the differences in chemical composition between traditional inkpad (containing natural ingredients such as cinnabar,castor oil,and mugwort fibers) and modern stamp pad ink (containing synthetic colours,solvents,polymers,surfactants,etc.). Research indicates that the formulation of traditional inkpad embodies the ancient people’s simple knowledge of material properties (such as the relatively stable chemical nature of cinnabar,the appropriate surface tension and viscosity of castor oil,etc.),while modern stamp pad ink demonstrates the optimization of practical performance through chemistry science. The content of the paper not only provides an interdisciplinary teaching case for high school chemistry courses but also enhances students’ identification with traditional culture through a dialogue between traditional culture and modern technology. Furthermore,it guides students to understand the role of scientific and technological advancements in promoting social progress from a chemical perspective.

Ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA),a widely used polymer material in daily life,finds applications in midsoles of sports shoes,food packaging,and medical materials. Taking the XL EXTRALIGHT technology featured in the “Essential” torch for the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics as a starting point,this paper analyzes EVA’s chemical structure,multi-phase composition,and crosslinking mechanism,establishing correlations among “microstructure-crosslinking network-macroscopic properties”. Through application cases of EVA in footwear,packaging,and medical fields,the study elaborates on the chemical principle that “structure determines properties”,and proposes a teaching practice plan for polymer chemistry. This work provides chemistry educators with exemplary teaching materials that connect daily-life materials to molecular design understanding and scientific thinking cultivation,promoting the integration of chemical education with real-world applications.

This study tackles assessment lag and the teaching-assessment divide in junior high school chemistry conceptual instruction by introducing a novel embedded formative assessment model. The model is driven by a “three-stage progressive” approach: microscopic evidence-professional judgment-immediate feedback. This approach ensures that evaluation is seamlessly integrated throughout the instructional process. During implementation,teachers systematically gather micro-evidence of student learning,including verbal responses,diagrams,and hands-on activities. This evidence is then analyzed to identify common misconceptions and assess students’ proficiency levels by referencing the Zone of Proximal Development and Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. This process leads to the provision of immediate feedback through strategies such as probing questions,inducing cognitive conflict,and tool-based scaffolding. Using the teaching of “Molecules and Atoms” as an example,the model enables the capture of thinking processes,facilitates cognitive diagnosis,and guides conceptual construction. Evidence from practice indicates that this model successfully transitions assessment from an “add-on” to an “embedded” element,which has been proven to significantly enhance students’ precise comprehension and deep conceptual learning.

To implement the requirements of The Compulsory Education Chemistry Curriculum Standards (2022 Edition) regarding the integration of excellent traditional Chinese culture into teaching,this study adopts the theme of “preserving Chinese blue”and utilizes the intangible cultural heritage “indigo dyeing craftsmanship” as a carrier to design a project-based review framework of “approaching blue → exploring blue → inheriting blue”. By guiding students to investigate the properties and transformation principles of acids,bases,and salts involved in the indigo dyeing process,the project encourages them to integrate knowledge from multiple disciplines such as chemistry,biology,and art while solving real-world problems,thereby autonomously constructing a structured knowledge system. This project aims to conduct interdisciplinary integrated teaching based on real-world contexts,exploring a feasible approach for junior high school chemistry review teaching that is rooted in cultural heritage preservation and targets the development of students’ core literacy.

Select “polysaccharides” as the teaching theme in chapter 4,section 1 “carbohydrates” of the elective compulsory course 3 Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry for high school,and carry out project-based teaching on “recycling of waste printing paper”. Through four tasks including “ubiquitous cellulose” “structure and properties of cellulose” “preparation of recycled paper”,and “display of creative works”,we deeply learned about the structure,properties,and uses of cellulose and glucose,the production process of regenerated paper,plant pigments,and other knowledge. During the project experience,students gained an appreciation of ancient Chinese paper-making techniques,felt the charm of traditional crafts,and enhanced their cultural confidence.

To promote the in-depth integration of chemical knowledge and excellent traditional Chinese culture,a high school chemistry project-based learning activity themed from dioscorea cirrhosa to gorgeous garments: Unveiling the dyeing secret of Xiangyunsha was designed and practiced. Guided by the driving task “how to restore and identify an ancient piece of Xiangyunsha using chemical knowledge”,students engaged in activities including “exploring the production process through literature” “investigating the color development mechanism of mordants”“scientifically identifying fabric authenticity”,and “creative tie-dye art practice”.This activity integrates abstract chemical knowledge into a real cultural context,enabling students to feel the chemical wisdom contained in non-legacy crafts during the exploration process,revealing that the key to the two-sided different color of Xiangyunsha lies in the phenolic compounds in Pteroceltis tatarinowii and the reaction with metal ions in river mud. This case provides a concrete reference for implementing project-based teaching with Chinese characteristics in middle schools.

Quantitative study of sucrose hydrolysis has been difficult to carry out in depth at the high school level due to the limitations of traditional detection methods. This study introduces a commercial blood glucose meter as the detection tool and takes the hydrolysis of sucrose catalyzed by yeast invertase as the research subject,integrating knowledge from chemical kinetics and biological enzymology to design an interdisciplinary experimental teaching program that can be completed within a relatively short time. Students collect data based on the specific recognition principle of glucose oxidase and conduct parallel experiments at three temperatures (25,30,35 ℃),sequentially constructing a glucose concentration-time variation model,an initial reaction rate calculation model,and an Arrhenius activation energy determination model,ultimately obtaining the activation energy value for the enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis. This process helps students deepen their understanding of concepts such as reaction rate and activation energy,gives them firsthand appreciation of the critical role of enzyme specificity in experimental detection,and develops their abilities in function fitting and mathematical modeling through the data processing stage. Centered on the progressive construction of cognitive models,this design provides a practical and operable pathway for fostering students’ core disciplinary competencies.

This study analyzes the disciplinary essential questions and the cognitive perspectives in junior high school chemistry,clarifies the learning performance of the concept of substance classification within this unit. Taking cognitive developmental questions as driving questions,this study designs a series of instructional activities,such as “What characteristics define substances as acids?”“How to determine if a substance is a base?”“How to analyze and predict the properties of unfamiliar substances based on their substance category?”. These activities are intended to support students in constructing an understanding of the class of substances from the perspectives of composition and properties through experimental inquiry,and to develop cognitive methods for understanding substance properties based on substance categories. The study then proposes the concept-construction-oriented instructional strategies,including: (1) organizing instruction around overarching thematic big ideas to foreground the cognitive function of substance classification; (2) using the cognitive developmental questions as the framework to organize instructional sequences aimed at the construction and application of the substance classification perspective; and (3) taking mandatory experiments as a vehicle to promote the integrated development of the substance classification perspective and scientific inquiry abilities.

Given the highly abstract nature of crystal structure knowledge in senior high school chemistry,as well as students’ cognitive deficiency in the learning process: where they tend to focus merely on unit cells while overlooking the key logic that crystals are formed by the seamless and juxtaposed arrangement of unit cells: a cognitive model of crystal structures based on the intercorrelation of multiple representations has been constructed and put into practice. A four-stage progressive teaching process was designed. First,based on the existing cognitive models of crystal structure,multiple representations of the unit cell were integrated. Second,the dynamic and mutually explanatory correlations among various representations were further established to refine this cognitive model. Third,cognitive transfer was achieved by taking the sodium chloride unit cell as the prototype. Finally,the model was applied to solving unfamiliar and complex problems related to crystals. Practice has shown that this model effectively addresses the learning difficulties,improves students’ ability to analyze crystal structure-related problems,implements the core competencies of chemistry,and provides a scalable practical approach for the in-depth revision of crystal.

Embedding smart learning companions in small-group collaboration can provide sustained questioning and diagnostic feedback,creating productive cognitive conflict and adaptive scaffolding that supports the internalization of scientific argumentation thinking from external dialogic norms to learners’ metacognitive monitoring. To address the challenges of cognitive detachment,inefficient collaboration,and insufficient personalized scaffolding in current science classrooms,this study proposes a deep collaborative teaching model supported by smart learning companions to cultivate scientific argumentation. The model features a teacher-AI-student triad synergy and follows a four-stage process based on argumentation logic: conjecture inquiry,scheme co-creation,empirical investigation,and debate consensus. Relying on mechanisms of cognitive offloading,adaptive scaffolding evolution,and adversarial collaborative internalization,the model utilizes the external heterogeneous intervention of smart learning companions to disrupt group cognitive inertia. This approach drives substantive evidence scrutiny and logical repair among students. Practical application in the case “changes in producing gas” demonstrates that this model effectively overcomes superficial collaboration and facilitates the transition from intuitive experience to standardized argumentation. This study offers an actionable scheme for science education in the intelligent era and delineates the direction of teacher transformation empowered by technology.

Interdisciplinary contextual teaching resources are integrative educational tools centered on chemistry,seamlessly incorporating concepts and principles from diverse disciplines including biology,geography,physics,technology,and engineering. These resources serve as vital vehicles for advancing core-competency-driven interdisciplinary instruction. Drawing on the DeepSeek framework,a systematic three-phase methodology for designing such materials was established: “proactive planning-collaborative human and artificial intelligence development-iterative evaluation and refinement.” Through illustrative case studies,this paper outlines the step-by-step implementation of this approach,offering junior high school chemistry educators a practical,actionable roadmap for creating effective interdisciplinary contextual learning materials.

This study explored the role of manganese dioxide in the reaction of oxygen production via hydrogen peroxide decomposition through quantitative experiments, considering factors such as the dosage, morphology and reuse times of manganese dioxide. Experimental results show that manganese dioxide can significantly reduce the activation energy of the reaction and increase the oxygen generation rate. Its catalytic efficiency is positively correlated with the dosage. Further analysis indicates that the chemical properties of manganese dioxide do not change significantly during the reaction, which conforms to the typical characteristics of catalysts. This paper provides quantitative evidence for understanding the mechanism of solid catalysts in decomposition reactions, and has reference value for relevant teaching and industrial applications.

To address issues such as unclear distinctions between phenomena and students’ reliance on rote memorization in high school chemistry experiments on protein properties,this study employed everyday materials,such as T-squares and textbooks,to construct simple apparatus. By combining these with smartphone macro imaging technology and minimizing reagent usage to a single “drop”,the study achieved a visual and engaging presentation of the subtle phenomena and dynamic changes occurring during protein salt precipitation,denaturation,and biuret color development. Building on this,three sets of inquiry-based experiments were conducted to clarify the differences in the properties of protein salting-out and denaturation,the nature of salting-out products,and the key factors inducing denaturation. The improved experimental design utilized readily available materials and presented intuitive experimental phenomena,fostering students’ experimental inquiry thinking:from observing phenomena to drawing inferences based on evidence.

Based on the law of conservation of energy,the actual output power of the electric kettle was calibrated to calculate the energy absorbed by water during boiling process,and the hydrogen bond strength between water molecules was deduced. The obtained experimental data are close to the standard values reported in the references. From both qualitative and quantitative perspectives,this experiment connects observable macroscopic thermal phenomena with abstract microscopic inter-molecular forces based on daily scenarios familiar to students. The experimental apparatus is easily accessible and the operation is safe. Integrating relevant knowledge of physics and chemistry,the experiment is suitable for classroom demonstration and independent inquiry by students,which helps cultivate their abilities to integrate theory with practice and conduct data reasoning and analysis.

This article uses Question 3 from the 39th China Chemistry Olympiad (Preliminary Round) as a case study to systematically analyze the ring-opening polymerization processes of cyclic monomers (such as aziridine and oxazoline) from the perspectives of molecular structures and reaction mechanisms. While also exploring advanced case studies,it further extends the discussion to the structural transformation characteristics and diverse mechanisms of ring-opening polymerization (e.g.,cationic,anionic,radical,and ring-opening metathesis polymerization). With the aim of enhancing students’ logical comprehension of competition questions and deepening their understanding of topological control in polymer synthesis,this article provides valuable insights for chemistry Olympiad education and the cultivation of top-tier innovative talents.

Through the research on the discovery of strontium and the development of its concept, it is known that in 1790, the British chemist Adair Crawford studied the ore found in Strontian and believed that it contained a new earth-strontium earth. This was later confirmed by Thomas Charles Hope, a chemistry professor at the University of Edinburgh, in 1793. In 1808, the British chemist Davy successfully extracted a new metal from strontium earth and named it “strontium”. Thus, the macroscopic characterization concept of strontium was formed. Afterwards, the proposal of atomic theory and the determination of the atomic weight of strontium promoted the formation of the microscopic characterization concept of strontium. In the 20th century, the discovery of strontium isotopes led to the formation of the modern concept of strontium. In conclusion, the discovery and development of the concept of strontium is not only the history of the development of element concepts, but also the history of the progress of scientific thought and scientific methods.

Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂),as an important green chemical,its development history fully demonstrates the evolution laws of scientific cognition and technological innovation. This paper systematically reviews the scientific research and technological progress of hydrogen peroxide: from its first preparation by Thénard in 1818,to the establishment of its molecular structure and the analysis of its stereochemistry; from the early barium salt method to the modern mainstream anthraquinone process,and then to emerging green preparation technologies such as electrochemical synthesis and photochemical synthesis; from traditional bleaching and disinfection to its wide application in modern environmental governance and life sciences. Research shows that the unique chemical properties of hydrogen peroxide are attributed to the peroxide bond (-O-O-) in its molecule,which endows it with both oxidizing and reducing properties,and its decomposition products are only water and oxygen,in line with the principles of green chemistry. The research history of hydrogen peroxide not only reflects the development laws of the chemical discipline but also provides a typical example for understanding the relationship between science,technology and society,which is of great significance for promoting the development of green chemistry and cultivating scientific literacy.