This activity provides a useful stimulus for discussion to
elucidate students’ understanding of the concept of covalent
bonding. There is a rich literature illustrating the misconceptions
that students hold with respect to covalent bonding at
various points in their academic careers. The most prevalent of
these is a secure attachment to the octet rule as previously
discussed. This activity is designed to be used with students at
the very start of their instruction in chemical bonding, when
they have little understanding of what the term “bond” means.
It can therefore be used as a physical stimulus for discussion
with a role in preventing misconceptions (or preventing them
becoming too securely held) rather than addressing misconceptions
already held. Figure 6 shows a schematic for use in
discussing aspects of covalent bonding using the model as a
stimulus. These can be used in teacher−student discussion or
handed out on cue cards for student paired discussion.