Classroom Resources: Chemistry Basics
1 – 25 of 186 Classroom Resources
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Physical Properties, Chemical Properties, Elements, Alloys, Chemical Bond | Middle School
Lesson Plan: Behind the Metal
In this lesson, students will learn about the properties of metals. The students will work in small groups to create a video to anthropomorphize their selected metal as though it were a heavy metal musician and share the video with their peers.
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Density, Observations | Middle School
Lesson Plan: Understanding Density
In this lesson, students will explain phenomena using their knowledge of how changes in mass and volume can affect the density of an object.
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Physical Properties, Molecular Structure, Intermolecular Forces | Middle School, High School
Lesson Plan: Structure Matters
In this lesson, students will explore the atomic level structure of various elements and compounds to determine how arrangement of atoms at the microscopic level affects macroscopic material properties.
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Radiation, Electromagnetic Spectrum, Heat, Temperature, Experimental design, Graphing, Interdisciplinary | Middle School, High School
Lesson Plan: The Ozone Layer
In this lesson, students will develop an explanation for the consequences of ozone depletion on Earth by planning and carrying out an investigation. Students will use analysis and interpretation of data to develop a model to explain the cause and effect of Ozone depletion on the planet Earth.
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Lab Safety, Chemical Properties, Physical Properties | Middle School, High School
Lesson Plan: Lab Safety and Safety Data Sheets (SDS)
In this lesson, students will identify various safe lab practices with a focus on the importance of labeling and knowing the background safety information for all reagents used in a lab. Students will design a series of tests to determine the identity of an unknown substance using properties found on safety data sheets.
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Density, Physical Properties, Chemical Properties, Physical Change, Chemical Change, Graphing, Alloys | Middle School, High School
Lesson Plan: The Captivating Chemistry of Coins
In this lesson, students will develop a better understanding of physical and chemical properties of matter by comparing the composition of different pennies. This is done by determining the density of different pennies which will be compared to the density of different metals.
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Lab Safety | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Video: Video 1: Safety Mindset
The chemistry lab is an amazing place! Through experiments and demonstrations your high school students have been discovering that chemistry is more than just a collection of facts and formulas-- it’s a way of observing and understanding the very real properties of matter all around them. However, the lab can also be a dangerous place. Contrary to what your students might have seen in films and TV, safety is a core value of chemistry—it is essential to everything they do in the lab. It begins with their mindset, the attitudes and beliefs they bring to class with them every day. Use this video to introduce your students to elements of safe importance of safety mindset in the chemistry lab.
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Physical Change, Chemical Change, Physical Properties, Chemical Properties | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Activity: A Physical vs. Chemical Challenge
In this activity, students will first complete a card sort to best categorize examples of change as physical or chemical change. Then they will compete in teams to identify whether given situations represent a physical change or a chemical change, or a physical or a chemical property.
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Lab Safety | Elementary School, Middle School
Activity: Super Safety Scientists
In this activity, students will brainstorm ideas for keeping people safe during lab activities and design personal protective equipment (PPE) suitable for a given situation.
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Photosynthesis, Interdisciplinary | Elementary School, Middle School
Lesson Plan: Investigating Photosynthesis
In this lesson, students will build knowledge through reading an assigned passage, as well as analyze evidence produced from a teacher led demonstration to better understand the process of photosynthesis.
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Review, Interdisciplinary, History | Middle School, High School
Project: Create a Chemistry App
In this project, students will use Google accounts to create chemistry-themed apps, with no programming required. They will create a Google Drive spreadsheet containing scientific information, and link it to a free account on Glideapps.com. They will personalize the app on the Glideapps website. The resulting app will be available to view on devices that have the correct link.
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Lab Safety | Middle School, High School
Activity: Lab Safety, You're Fired!
In this activity, students will read an account of a laboratory tour which details numerous safety infractions. They will be charged with identifying the safety violations and determining which scientist working in the lab should be fired. This activity is designed to be used after both lab safety and Claim, Evidence, Reasoning framework has been introduced.
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Periodic Table, Elements | Middle School, High School
Activity: Lucky Seven
In this activity, students will use the periodic table and the clues provided to identify element names. Students will then attempt to find the element names that are hidden n the puzzle.
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Scientific Method, Observations | Middle School
Lab: Which Paint is the most Cost-Effective
In this lab, students will practice implementing the scientific method in order compare the properties of different paint samples through a variety of testing. Students will research consumer reports, hypothesize, and conduct specific tests in order to determine which brand of paint is the most cost effective.
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Measurements, Dimensional Analysis, Chemical Properties, Physical Properties, Chemical Change, Physical Change, Mixture, Matter, Observations | Middle School, High School
Activity: Cupcake Conversions, Bench to Bakery
This activity will help to reinforce the importance of scientific measurement and apply it to the introduction of chemical reactions. Using an example of baking a single batch of cupcakes, students will plan for a larger production scale in a commercial bakery. This will help to introduce the idea of producing a reaction at the lab bench and converting it to mass production. In addition this activity investigates how chemistry is used in everyday life and challenges students to consider potentials errors that may occur when completing chemical reactions in the kitchen.
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Polymers, Interdisciplinary, Culminating Project | Middle School, High School
Lesson Plan: Cleaning-up the Plastic Island
In this lesson, students will develop an understanding of the chemistry of plastics and apply their knowledge in order to engineer a cost effective and environmentally friendly method to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
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Lab Safety | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Video: Video 2: Safety Data Sheet (SDS)
Preparation and planning are key to working in the chemistry lab. To be prepared, your students must understand the hazards of any chemicals they will be working with. The place to find that information is the Safety Data Sheet or SDS. The SDS provides detailed information about the properties of a chemical, its hazards, and how to protect yourself from those hazards. Use this video, to guide your students through 16 sections of the SDS for isopropyl alcohol to demonstrate importance of SDS information.
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Lab Safety | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Video: Video 3: How to Dress for the Lab? And what about Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)?
Wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) for short is one of the main ways for you and your students to stay protected from injury in the lab. PPE includes things like goggles, gloves, lab coats or aprons. These are designed to protect eyes, hands and skin, as well as clothing, from exposure to chemicals. PPE is the most obvious way of preventing contact with chemicals--but it is not the first line of defense. Use these video to teach your students that before they put on any PPE, why they should dress properly for lab.
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Lab Safety | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Video: Video 4: Preparing for Emergencies
There is an old saying that you should always plan for the best, but prepare for the worst. This is good advice in the lab as well. Use this video to teach your students about two lab emergencies that carry a high risk of injury--spills and fires. The videos describes concrete steps to prevent these emergencies and goes over some of the safety equipment used to deal with them.
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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 | 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.