The Association of Science Teachers on The Tetrahedron and Octahedron Geometric Structures of the Chemical Compounds with Their Mathematical Knowledge

This research was done in order to reveal how the science students can associate the chemical compounds’ tetrahedron and octahedron geometric structures with their mathematical knowledge. The research was conducted with 76 students who receive their education at the first grade in The Department of Science Education in The Teachers College of a state university in Turkey. In the research, the data was collected with the knowledge test which consists of four open-ended questions belonging to the drawing of tetrahedron and octahedron geometric structures and the chemical compounds’ structures which are proper to the geometric structures. The data was categorized in four and was analyzed as percentage and frequency. According to the obtained findings, it was seen that the students fell behind to draw the chemical compound which is proper to the geometric structure and the tetrahedron and octahedron geometric structure. The students’incorrect or deficient drawing for the geometrical structures caused that they draw the chemical compounds’ geometric structures incorrectly and deficiently. This result reveals that the science students couldn’t correlate the chemical compounds’ geometric structures with the mathematical knowledge