Classroom Resources: Chemistry Basics
26 – 50 of 245 Classroom Resources
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Lab Safety | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Video: Video 5: RAMP (For Students)
Use this video to teach your students a simple yet powerful tool for protecting you and your classmates in the lab. The tool is called RAMP. RAMP stands for: Recognize hazards; Assess risks; Minimize risks and Prepare for emergencies.
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Lab Safety | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Video: Video 6: RAMP (For Teachers)
As a teacher, there are steps you can take to make sure your students are as safe as possible while exploring and experimenting in the lab. In this video, we discuss some ideas to help you to set up a safe lab experiment. We use RAMP, the acronym for lab safety. RAMP stands for Recognize hazards; Assess risks; Minimize risks and Prepare for emergencies. RAMP is a simple yet powerful tool to help you prepare for and safely carry out any lab activity with your students.
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Measurements, Dimensional Analysis, Physical Change, Matter, Mixture | Middle School, High School
Activity: Cooking with Conversions
In this activity, students will be given a common homemade recipe for German chocolate cake with measurements in English units. They will be asked to convert the English ingredients list to metric units through scientific calculations. Students will also be asked to identify the ingredients as solid, liquid or gas. While reviewing the cooking procedures, students will classify certain steps as containing compounds or mixtures as well as identify whether chemical or physical changes are taking place. The culinary chemistry involved in this lesson should be introduced throughout the activity.
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Lab Safety, Physical Properties, Chemical Properties, History | Middle School, High School
Project: Chemical Disasters: Good Chemicals gone Bad!
In this project, students will research an industrial chemical accident. They will examine the chemicals involved including uses, hazards, chemical and physical properties. Students will investigate the cause of the accident and its repercussions. As the final product, they will film a 5-minute documentary which will be viewed in class.
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Periodic Table, Elements, Introduction, Temperature | High School
Activity: An Element Fill-In Puzzle
In this activity, students will solve a puzzle by using element symbols from the periodic table to fill-in missing letters in familiar chemistry terms related to energy and thermodynamics.
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Periodic Table, Elements | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Activity: The Periodic Table: Put Your Love to the Test!
In this activity, students will be challenged to see how familiar they are will the element names on the periodic table. Students will examine a heart-shaped word search, following the rules of the assigned difficulty level (beginner, intermediate, or advanced) in order to identify as many element names as possible.
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Molecular Structure, Intermolecular Forces, Physical Properties | High School
Lab: Solubility Plays a Role: Making Seitan from Flour
This lab offers insight into a practical aspect of solubility and demystifies a common ingredient, wheat flour. In this lab students will read about the composition and observe some properties of whole wheat flour by preparing seitan, a vegetarian meat substitute made from the glutenin and gliadin proteins in flour. Gluten, formed from the interaction of the aforementioned proteins, has a unique property of elasticity.
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Periodic Table, Elements, History | Middle School, High School
Activity: The Disappearing Spoon Video Questions
In this activity, students will watch videos from the AACT original video series, Sam Kean’s Disappearing Spoon. While watching a video, students will answer several questions related to the particular element of focus.
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Periodic Table, Elements, History | Middle School, High School
Activity: The Disappearing Spoon Reading Questions
In this activity, students will read a series of passages from the young readers edition of The Disappearing Spoon that are related to the elements in the AACT video series
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Periodic Table, Elements, Physical Properties, History, Atomic Mass, Subatomic Particles | High School
Activity: Which Element Am I?
In this activity, students will be challenged by a list of clues that describe 50 different elements from the periodic table. Using their own knowledge, or the help of the internet students will determine the identity of each element based on the clue provided.
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Periodic Table, Elements, Atomic Mass, Subatomic Particles | Middle School, High School
Activity: Periodic Table Connect The Dots
In this activity, students solve a series of clues about elements in order to uncover a message that has been hidden in the periodic table. Using the clues, students draw lines between identified elements on the table, which then connect to form the message. Two versions of this activity are available, varying the difficulty level of the clues.
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Density, Combustion, Lab Safety | High School
Demonstration: Density of Gases and Particle Diagrams
In this demonstration, students will observe the teacher carry out two combustion reactions. First the teacher will burn a small sample of propane gas in a beaker. Next the teacher will burn a small sample of methane gas. Students will create particle diagrams in order support their explanation and model their observations as they improve their understanding of gas density.
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Introduction, Interdisciplinary, History, Heat, Renewable Energy, Polymers, Molecular Structure | Middle School, High School
Activity: The Frontiers of Chemistry: Video Questions
In this activity, students will answer questions while watching a video about several exciting scientific developments, including solar cells, 3D printing and micro machines. This video will help students understand that fundamental chemistry concepts are essential to the advancement of science and technology.
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Percent Composition, Mole Concept, Identifying an Unknown, Emission Spectrum | High School
Lesson Plan: Chemical Analysis of Martian Rocks
In this lesson, students are challenged to analyze the spectral graphs obtained by the Curiosity Mars Rover. Based on their examination students will determine the component elements of each sample, as well as the relative abundance of each element. With this information the student will complete calculations to find the empirical formula and identify the composition of the unknown rock. Finally students will complete research to see if these rocks are actually like those on Earth.
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Intermolecular Forces, Polarity, Molecular Geometry, Molecular Structure, Molecular Structure , Physical Properties, Chemical Properties, Physical Change | High School
Lesson Plan: An Exploration of Intermolecular Forces
In this lesson students will explore intermolecular forces, and their associated effect on physical and chemical properties. Students will experiment with volatile liquids to investigate their predictions about intermolecular strength.
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Review, Mixture, Physical Properties, Density, Periodic Table | Middle School, High School
Activity: Chemistry Basics: Advanced Crossword Puzzle
In this activity, students will complete a crossword puzzle by solving each clue that is related to a fundamental chemistry topic.
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Chemical Change, Chemical Change, Acid Base Reactions, Observations | Middle School, High School
Lab: How do Sinkholes Form?
In this lab students will learn how acidic groundwater reacts with limestone, causing it to erode. Sinkholes form when eroded limestone underneath the surface of the earth can no longer support the ground above it. Students will test how acid reacts with a variety of rocks and determine which rocks would be best to build a city on top of in order to reduce the chance of sinkholes forming.
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Dimensional Analysis, Measurements, Review | Middle School, High School
Activity: Dimensional Analysis Show Down
In this activity students will work cooperatively to solve conversion based problems using dimensional analysis. Students are required to independently determine an answer for each question and be able explain their method of solving with their peers. This activity is designed to allow students to work at their own pace, and for students to take on a teaching role by communicating their understanding with their peers.
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Lab Safety | High School
Activity: The Essentials for Survival
In this activity, the students will be introduced to and explore different lab equipment, model appropriate group work and class discussions, and practice writing efficient Claim-Evidence-Reasoning reports. This is an introductory activity for use in a general education chemistry class.
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Introduction, Lab Safety, Chemical Properties, Physical Properties, Chemical Change, Physical Change, History, Separating Mixtures, Measurements, SI Units, Significant Figures | High School
Lesson Plan: Chemistry Basics Unit Plan
The AACT High School Classroom Resource library and multimedia collection has everything you need to put together a unit plan for your classroom: lessons, activities, labs, projects, videos, simulations, and animations. We searched through our resource library and constructed a unit plan for introducing the basic chemistry concepts to students: Laboratory Safety, Equipment, and Reports, Periodic Table Basics, Physical and Chemical Properties and Changes, Endothermic and Exothermic Changes, and Classification of Matter. These topics are very important for your students to master before they dig into other chemistry concepts. This unit is designed to be used at beginning of the school year.
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Culminating Project, Chemical Properties, Physical Properties, History, VSEPR Theory, Polymers, Covalent Bonding | High School
Project: The Evolution of Materials Science in Everyday Products
In this project, students will be able to understand the progression of development of an everyday product and display their knowledge through a creative video. They will investigate the history and chemical composition of the product through the present day. The students will then suggest an innovation about how the product can be altered in the future to improve society.
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Exothermic & Endothermic, Specific Heat, Density, Phase Changes | High School
Lab: Chemistry is Cooler Stress Test Challenge
In this lab, students will design and build a device capable of insulating an ice cube submerged in boiling water for two minutes. In this open-ended inquiry based activity, students will be required to critically think about structure and function of the materials they wish to use to build a device to solve a complex real-world problem. Students must consider the thermal properties of the materials, density, and the need to form a non-permeable barrier between the ice cube and the boiling water.
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Acid & Base Theories, Strong vs Weak, History | Middle School, High School
Activity: Acid & Base Guys Video Questions
In this activity, students will watch a video about the history of acids and bases. They will learn about the evolution of these theories, from Lavoisier to Arrhenius, Bronsted-Lowry, and Lewis.
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Conservation of Mass, Observations, History, Measurements, SI Units | Middle School, High School
Activity: Lavoisier Video Questions
In this activity, students will watch a video about Antoine Lavoisier, who many consider to be the father of modern chemistry. They will answer questions as they learn about oxygen, hydrogen, and the first proposal of the Law of the Conservation of Mass.
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Periodic Table, History, Physical Properties, Chemical Properties, Atomic Mass, Atomic Theory, Model of the Atom, Subatomic Particles | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Activity: Mendeleev Video Questions
In this activity, students will watch a video and answer questions about Dimitri Mendeleev. They will learn about his contribution to chemistry, including his organization of the periodic table and awareness to leave gaps for elements that weren’t yet discovered.