CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of StudyScience and Technology have been used and are still being used in solving many human problems. The aim of science is to better the life of man and to conquer nature and also its ePect in our schools is to produce men and women who are scientifically literate. Science and technology education have been sure ways in the promotion of economic development, alleviation or eradication of poverty and improvement of social welfare in any country. This is the reason why many countries of the world, developed and developing, are investing heavily in science and technology education yearly (Nwagbo, 2005). In Nigeria the story is the same, many policies have been formulated since independence educationists and curriculum developers have equally developed and advanced the school curriculum to take care of the immediate and distant scientific and technological needs of the Nigerian society with a view of making graduate of our school system self-reliant, employable and highly productive in the face of mounting unemployment.
Science therefore, is the study of nature and natural phenomena. Nature according to Butler and Tanner (2003) is a thing or person's innate or essential qualities or characters. The study of science operates on physical measurable and observable realm. According to Mbajiogu (2003) science is a systematic process of investigation that employs observation and experimentation as tools. Science is not a techniques or a body of knowledge, though it uses both, it is rather an attitude of inquiry, of observation and reasoning with respect to the world. It can be developed not because memorizing facts or using formula to get an answer, but only by actual practice of scientific observation and reasoning.
Academic America Encyclopedia (1989), defined science as the development and systematization of positive knowledge about physical universe. In other hand, technology is the art of making things generally useful to man, so science generates the body of knowledge and understanding which technology depends on to produce goods and services. It is worthy to note that the major advances made in medicine. Pharmacy, industrial chemistry and engineering are based on researches being conducted in many areas of science and technology such as chemistry. Therefore, within the contest of science education, chemistry has been identified as a very important science subject and its importance in scientific and technological development of any nation has been widely reported. It was as a result of the individual and the nation that chemistry was also made a core subject among the natural science and other science related courses in Nigeria education system because it is a pre-requisite subject for oPering most science oriented courses such as nursing, medicine, pharmacy, engineering, science education, Biochemistry and so on in the tertiary institutions. Chemistry education is intended among other things to provide grounds for students to become competent in information and communication Technology (ICT) application which leads them to acquire entrepreneurial skills and subsequently apply these skills in solving scientific problems.
