Women and Chemistry

Abstract

An activity to encourage students to become social communicators, by enhancing their knowledge on scientific literacy, was implemented and is hereby described. After reading the text “Las mujeres y la química: una complicidad de género” (Porro, 2011)1 focusing on how the development of Chemistry has affected women´s lives and how it contributed to change their role in society, students became communicative channels passing on this knowledge to people hardly aware of it. Students were suggested to, first, choose one of the topics addressed in the text and, then, to talk to women that had no previous knowledge of chemistry, in order to explain to them the new concepts that they themselves were learning. The activity was very well received and became fulfilling for all involved. Activities such as these allow the human and cultural aspects of science and technology to be more accessible and relevant for students. The opportunity of interacting as social communicators not only increases the value of the acquired knowledge for the students, but also influences their development of numerous abilities as individuals.