This presentation discusses the potential of delving beyond more traditional school approaches to Chemistry to include Aboriginal understandings and applications.
As a student, Chemistry was an intimidating subject that I found fast-moving, confusing and unrelated to anything in my day-to-day life. I didn't much enjoy memorising the periodic table and struggled as the formulas became increasingly complex. I moved out of the subject, taking with me a negative perception of Chemistry as a school subject and a limited understanding of what Chemistry really was.
My appreciation of chemistry has developed organically out of a love of being on Country and connecting with Aboriginal cultural practices. Aboriginal approaches to chemistry provided me with accessible and tangible knowledge that I could see, do and use. This presentation asks educators to consider how rediscovering Chemistry through an Aboriginal lens may be of benefit to students and provide opportunities for alternative approaches to teaching and learning that centre Country, local resources and sustainability.
I am constantly in awe of the complex, intricate and unlikely applications of chemistry that Aboriginal people practice, developed over tens of thousands of years of trial and error, listening and looking, observing patterns and anomalies. This presentation will share a couple of my favourite examples, demonstrating the innovative and sustainable use of natural resources by different Aboriginal peoples to produce chemical processes and changes.
This presentation reminds us of the importance of conserving natural resources and protecting native species. It also encourages us to rediscover chemistry through an Aboriginal lens and consider the potential of alternative perspectives and applications when teaching chemistry to students.