Progress so far

1. Planning Stage

During the planning stage, we first had a conversation with an elementary school teacher to get general advice for creating a textbook. We discussed the topics that will be covered by the textbook. We decided to choose particles and states of matter as these topics are not always thoroughly covered in high school chemistry, yet they are essential for problem-solving and act as our critical background information.

2. Content confirmation and Collaboration

After organizing the important information, we shared it with the elementary school teacher to check for scientific errors and receive feedback. Specifically, we asked for feedback of the analogies, which are helpful for students’ understanding of the content. Based on the teacher’s feedback, we modified the content and had it reviewed again.

3. Design Preparation

When the information and the analogies were finally organized, we tried to find a great method for the design of the textbook. After this meaningful discussion, we decided to work with a designer. After talking with the designer, we agreed to make the book to prioritize the illustration, which made it seem like a storybook. We divided the pages and sent them to the designer. The designer created the overall plans for the illustration. Each of us drew our first sketches for half of the pages. After the sketch, we identified pages that required modification and redrew modification.

4. Current status & Future plans

At present, the modification of the content is being finalized. The completed sketches will be sent to the designer. When the final version is delivered, our team will exchange feedback with the designer to rearrange some of the details in the design. Completing the textbook and with the approval of the elementary school teacher who has been talking with us, we plan to use the textbook in actual lessons with elementary students. Through this process, we will evaluate its effectiveness and continue to make improvements as needed.