CHM 106, Chemical Concepts DART #1: Reading a Science Textbook
Dr. Jeff Paradis
Student Name: Student score: /10 pts
Rationale: Directed Activities Related to Text (DART) are aimed at helping you learn to read your textbook more effectively and to thereby help you learn the material. Research is finding that students don't adequately engage with assigned readings. Some students believe that their teachers are there to pre-digest and explain the readings to them. But educated adults need to be able to get new information and ideas and make sense of them on their own. The DART process is:
Part A: First, we become familiar with the textbook as a whole. This first encounter with the book is usually done once at the beginning of a course.
Part B: Next, we survey the entire chapter that contains the assigned reading. A chapter covers one topic and this initial survey will set the assigned reading in its context.
Part C: Next, the specific assigned material is actively read. This process involves the reader making notations, finding definitions, and summarizing the printed text.
Part D: Finally, the material is reviewed so that the new material gets incorporated into what we already knows.
This process clearly takes more time and effort than reading a novel for entertainment but by taking this systematic approach to reading even the most difficult material can eventually make sense. For those of you who have already been exposed to similar techniques, you will hopefully find it useful to share with your future students when you become a teacher yourself.
Directions: Answer each question in the space provided as you complete each step in DART #1.
Part A: Preview the textbook as a whole
1) List the title, author, edition, and date of publication of the textbook.
2) According to the table of contents, how many chapters does the book have?
3) What is the title of a chapter that looks like it would be difficult to understand?
4) What is the title of a chapter that looks like it would be interesting?
5) What is the glossary and where is it located in the textbook?
6) Use the glossary to write the definition of a word or phrase that is unfamiliar to you.
7) What is the index and where is it located in the textbook?
8) Use the index to find the same unfamiliar word/phrase you chose in question 6). On what page(s) in the textbook can this word/phrase be found?
9) How is the information in the glossary different from the information you found when you read the pages listed in the index?
10) Where in the textbook are the appendices?
11) What is the subject matter or the titles of the textbook’s appendices?
12) Why isn’t the information from the appendices included in the body of the textbook?
Part B: Preview the whole chapter
13) What is the title of Chapter 16?
Read the chapter’s introductory paragraphs (page 508).
14) What is the major point made in the introduction?
Read just the 7 section headings (labeled 16.1-16.7) in the chapter.
15) What seems to be the theme of the section headings in this chapter?
Part C. Actively read the assignment
Answer the following questions on this page as you make a first pass at reading the textbook. Start with section 16.2 on page 511 and stop when you get to the heading for section 16.5 on page 518.
16) Make notes and a list of key words/phrases as you read the assigned pages. Although this can be done directly in the textbook, for the purpose of this assignment, please record your notes and key words on the back of this page (or attach a separate piece of paper). You may find the following shorthand notation useful when taking notes: ! = important; ? = confusing; Ö = I get it. Refer to the last page of this handout for an example titled Sample notes on textbook reading.
17) Make a list of any unfamiliar words/phrases as you read the assigned pages.
Use the glossary or a dictionary to check the definition of the above unfamiliar words.
18) Write the definition of one of the words/phrases you looked up in the glossary.
Change each section and subsection heading into a question; for example, “16.2 - Collectively, We Consume Huge Amounts of Water” can be changed to “How much water does each of us consume?” Try to answer such questions as you read the section.
19) Make a question out of the subheading “16.3 - Human Activities Can Pollute Water”. Write an answer to this question.
Authors often include pictures, diagrams, and figures to help clarify their written text. Go back and look again at the diagrams and figures and read their captions.
20) From Fig. 16.4, how much water, in billions of liters per day was used in the US in 2005?
21) From Fig. 16.10, at what distance from untreated sewage outfall is the level of dissolved oxygen found to be the lowest?
Part D. Summarize the assigned reading.
22) In your own words, write a summary of the pages you were just asked to read in Part C.
23) Write a response to the summary you wrote in question 22). Your response is a personal reflection on your level of understanding of the material. In addition to articulating what specific material you understand and do not understand, your reflection can also deal with your level of interest and how the material relates to you personally. Also comment on whether there are aspects that you would like to learn more about.
Many students find it helpful at this point to review and discuss with another person what was just read, including sharing the questions they made while reading the chapter (see question 19) and the summaries/reflections (see questions 22/23) they wrote. Persisting questions or areas that need clarification can then be addressed with the help of your instructor. By following the steps in DART #1, you are well on your way to understanding even the most complicated material!
Your completed DART is due before you leave the activity period today.
Sample notes on textbook reading
Below, I have written sample notes from one of the textbook sections (sec 16.4) you were asked to read for DART #1. When you are done answering question 16 come back to this example and see how your notes compare to mine.
16) Make notes and a list of key words/phrases as you read the assigned pages. Although this can be done directly in the textbook, for the purpose of this assignment, please record your notes and key words on a separate piece of paper along with the rest of your answers.
My sample notes: 16.4 Wastewater Treatment
Steps in sewage treatment
Initial
§ Screens and grit chambers
o Removes insoluble material (coffee grounds, cooking grease, plastic)
Primary treatment
§ Settling basin
o Suspended solids settle out as sludge
o Sludge may go to landfill or be burned
§ Chlorine and/or ozone treatment
o Provides protection from diseases
o Note: chlorine kills bacteria and stays in water to provide long-term protection, but may react to form carcinogens.
o Note: ozone kills both bacteria and viruses, but doesn’t offer residual protection.
Secondary treatment
§ Aeration tank
o Supplies needed oxygen for the decomposition of organic matter by bacteria
§ Settling basin
o See above
Tertiary treatment
§ Additional filtration
o Through bed of powdered carbon
Extra comments about taking notes:
1) The above notes covered about 1/3 of the assigned reading for DART #1 (so you should have had about 3x as many notes...just to give you a rough guideline). If you had a lot less than that, you are probably taking inadequate notes.
2) Note taking requires a judgment call about what is important. For example I didn't write down a lot of statistics and dates. As a student I might adjust this as I got used to the instructor and what they seemed to emphasize.
3) Note taking requires a little editing and organizing as you go along. For this reason as I was taking the notes (and before I went back and typed them up), I left spaces so I can go back and add new information that appeared later, but that was related to previous bullets. In this case, I also tried to think of categories so I could group bullets.
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