I gave my first lessons this past week – Introduction to Chemistry. For the 2008 school year, I will be teaching Chemistry here in Inharrime. For the first lesson in each class, I introduced myself and asked my students to do the same, gave some rules for my class, and then embarked on a short explanation of what Chemistry is. ''The science that studies substances and their transformations.''

I wrote the textbook definition on the board for all of my classes, and then questioned who knew what a substance was. No one. These are 8^th graders and beside the fact that they have never studied Chemistry before, for many of them this is their first time out of their rural home zones and at a big school. Add that to the foreign teacher speaking to them in accented Portuguese and most of them were too nervous to say a word.

Instead of continuing to lecture to them, I told them that Chemistry is also an experimental science. I pull out a glass drinking cup and a bottle of water. ‘’This is probably the most important ‘substance’ in the world,” I said, “Does anyone recognize it?” A few timid voices… “Água?” Water. “Exactly!” We discussed briefly why water is so important – “If you all didn’t drink water, would you still live?” Now I finally got a big response –“No!”

Then, I pulled out a little clear plastic bag filled with washing detergent. I got a bigger response when I asked what this substance was – “Omo.” We discussed whether these substances were solids, liquids, or gases, and what would happen if we mixed them together. Then, I performed our first experiment. As I poured the simple detergent into water (something probably all of the students have done a thousand times), they all stretched out of their seats curious to see what happened at the front of the room.