Excursions to Chemical Plants – Methodology, Creation of Interactive Map of Chemical Industry and Supporting Materials

Abstract

An excursion is one of the forms of teaching in which students can see the connection between the theoretically discussed subject and practice, and realize the usefulness of the acquired knowledge for everyday life. However, organising an excursion is very time-consuming for teachers.
 In the introduction of this article, we describe the methodology of the excursion, pointing out possible occurrence of mistakes. We present the results of a questionnaire survey at the faculty high schools of Faculty of Science of Palacký University in Olomouc, which is focused on organizing excursions to a chemical plant. In the following text, we present a part of a new website called "CHEMIE ŽIJE!" ("Chemistry is Alive"), where an interactive map of the inorganic chemical industry of the Czech Republic is created, which can be a useful tool for organizing excursions. On the website, materials for the excursions are freely downloadable, e.g., documents informing generally about excursions, theoretical preparation of teachers regarding the given technology, a material used to prepare for the excursion, worksheets with solutions and a material used to consolidate the acquired knowledge.