Classroom Resources: Chemistry Basics

26 – 50 of 113 Classroom Resources

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  Review, Physical Properties, Elements | High School

  Activity: Family Reunion Puzzle

  In this activity, students will be challenged to solve a collection of anagrams—but with a twist! Given 27 ordinary words, students must remove one letter and then rearrange the remaining letters to form a chemical term. Additionally, the anagrams are grouped into 3 families, with all of the chemical terms in each family sharing a common property or theme.

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  pH, Indicators, Chemical Properties, Physical Properties, Identifying an Unknown | High School

  Lab: Pigment pH Puzzles

  In this lab, students will use their scientific detective skills to determine the identity of pigments used in various types of pH test strips based on how they each interact with several solutions of different pH values.

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  Lab Safety, Physical Properties, Chemical Properties, Interdisciplinary, Heat, Temperature, Polymers, Polymers | High School

  Activity: Ingenious: This Sandwich Will Save Your Life in an Arc Flash Video Questions

  In this activity, students will answer questions while watching the video, This Sandwich will Save your life in an Arc Flash, from the Ingenious series produced by the American Chemical Society. Each episode investigates a different topic related to how leading-edge chemistry is taking on the world’s most urgent issues to advance everyone’s quality of life and secure our shared future. This episode investigates the composite fabrics that protect lives of many people, like industrial workers, firefighters, and soldiers. When these workers encounter a fiery situation, they rely on protective clothing, designed using multiple layers of chemistry, to keep them safe.

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  Lab Safety, Physical Properties, Chemical Properties, Interdisciplinary, Heat, Temperature, Polymers, Molecular Structure | High School

  Video: Ingenious Video 3: This Sandwich Will Save Your Life in an Arc Flash

  It’s never fun when your clothes catch on fire. And while “stop, drop, and roll” may be a good idea sometimes, in more extreme cases, you need a better plan. Every day, industrial workers, firefighters, and soldiers risk fiery situations that might seem hard to imagine. In an arc flash event, for one, temperatures can jump to metal-melting levels in milliseconds. How can anyone possibly survive that? Well, take a tip from a club sandwich, because it’s all about the layers. The composite fabrics that protect life and limb in these situations rely on some incredible, multilayered chemistry, including the ability to quickly form a protective carbonaceous crust around the wearer.

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  Lab Safety, Chemical Properties, Physical Properties | Middle School, High School

  Activity: ACS Chemical Safety Video Questions

  In this activity, students will learn about safety, a core value of chemistry, through watching related videos produced by the American Chemical Society, Students will complete guided notes and questions during the activity. This chemical safety video series includes five videos: Safety Mindset, Safety Data Sheets, How to Dress for the Lab, and PPE, Preparing for Emergencies, and RAMP (Recognize hazards, Assess risks, Minimize risks, Prepare for emergencies).

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  Identifying an Unknown, Experimental Design, Chemical Properties, Physical Properties, Observations, Polyatomic Ions, Chemical Change, Ionic Bonding, Covalent Bonding, Solubility | High School

  Lab: Determining the Composition of Bridge Straw Stalactites

  In this lab, students will investigate “straws” that hang from a local bridge, and then determine various tests that can help to determine their chemical composition. Evaluating both the test results, as well as given information students will then make a claim about the composition, while providing evidence and supporting it with reasoning.

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  Separating Mixtures, Physical Properties, Mixtures | Middle School, High School

  Lab: Mixture Separation Challenge

  In this lab, students investigate the composition of a given mixture. Using their content knowledge and a variety of provided materials, students are tasked with separating the mixture into its individual components.

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  Introduction, Lab Safety, Chemical Properties, Physical Properties, Chemical Change, Physical Change, History, Separating Mixtures, Elements, Mixtures, Density, Measurements, SI Units, Significant Figures, Dimensional Analysis, Scientific Notation, Accuracy, Molecular Motion, Phase Changes | High School

  Lesson Plan: The Chemistry Basics and Measurement Quick Start Unit Plan

  This Quick Start Unit Plan includes all the materials that a teacher will need for the first 10 class meetings of the school year. Each day is outlined with teacher notes, and includes slide presentations as well as directions for demonstrations, activities and labs to use. The fundamental topics covered in the 10 days of lessons are: laboratory safety, laboratory equipment, experimental design, classification of matter, chemical properties, physical properties, chemical change, physical change, phase changes, separation techniques, dimensional analysis, unit conversions, factor label method, accuracy, precision, significant figures, and percent error calculations. This Quick Start Unit plan aims to help students to build a foundation of understanding, and master important topics before moving deeper into the chemistry curriculum.

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  Physical Properties, Chemical Properties, Physical Change, Chemical Change, Observations | High School

  Lab: Determining Physical and Chemical Properties

  In this lab, students will determine the physical and chemical properties of several different substances through testing and observation. Additionally, they will further their understanding of chemical and physical changes, and their ability to recognize each type of change.

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  Physical Properties, Chemical Properties, Elements, Matter, Covalent Bonding, Ionic Bonding, Intermolecular Forces, Polymers | Middle School, High School

  Project: The Chemistry of Toys

  In this project, students will study the chemistry behind a toy or novelty item of their choosing. They will look at the parts that make up their item and determine what materials each part is made of; the types of atoms, molecules, and bonds present in those materials; and their physical and chemical properties.

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  Ionic Bonding, Covalent Bonding, Physical Properties, Chemical Properties, Density, Inferences | High School

  Lesson Plan: Murder Mystery

  In this lesson, students will use their knowledge of the properties of ionic and covalent compounds to examine the evidence from a crime scene. Students will conduct several tests, and compare their data with known data in a collection of SDS documents. Using the evidence from their investigation, students will write a claim, evidence and reasoning statement detailing whether the victim was murdered or died accidentally.

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  Density, Identifying an Unknown, Physical Properties | Middle School, High School

  Lesson Plan: The Shattered Glass Mystery

  In this lesson, students will take on the role of a Forensic Scientist to help solve a hit and run investigation. They will learn how physical properties of matter, such as density and refractive index, can be used to help identify evidence samples such as glass.

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  Physical Properties, Chemical Properties, Interdisciplinary | High School

  Project: Working for NASA

  In this project, students will take on the role of a NASA employee on a mission to discover what resources humans need in order to survive on another planet inside of our solar system as well as an exoplanet outside of our solar system. Students will research the materials and resources needed to sustain life on Earth and compare these to another planet and exoplanet to determine if they can possibly be habitable and sustain life.

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  Intermolecular Forces, Polarity, Covalent Bonding, Lewis Structures, Molecular Geometry, Physical Properties | High School

  Simulation: Intermolecular Forces

  In this simulation, students will review the three major types of intermolecular forces and answer quiz questions using the relative strengths of these forces to compare different substances given their name, formula, and Lewis structure.

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  Intermolecular Forces, Polarity, Covalent Bonding, Lewis Structures, Molecular Geometry, Physical Properties | High School

  Activity: Simulation Activity: Intermolecular Forces

  In this simulation, students will review the three major types of intermolecular forces – London dispersion forces, dipole-dipole interactions, and hydrogen bonding – through short video clips and accompanying text. They will then answer quiz questions using the relative strengths of these forces to compare different substances given their name, formula, and Lewis structure, and put them in order based on the strength of their intermolecular forces, their boiling point, or their vapor pressure. The simulation is designed as a five question quiz for students to use multiple times.

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  Physical Properties, Covalent Bonding, Electronegativity, Polarity, Molecular Geometry, Intermolecular Forces, Solubility | Middle School, High School

  Activity: The Chemistry of Water Video Questions

  In this lesson, students will watch a video and answer questions about how the molecular geometry and polarity of water give rise to many of its unusual physical properties, including its relatively high boiling point and its ability to dissolve some substances but not others.

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  Periodic Table, Introduction, History, Physical Properties, Chemical Properties, Electrons, Valence Electrons | Middle School, High School

  Activity: How the Periodic Table Organizes the Elements Video Questions

  In this lesson, students will watch a video and answer questions about the organization of the periodic table. They will learn about how the elements on the periodic table are organized and what their location on the table can tell us about them.

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  Ionic Bonding, Naming Compounds, Molecular Formula, Ions, Ionic Radius, Solubility, Melting Point, Physical Properties | High School

  Activity: My Name is Bond, Ionic Bond

  In this lesson, students will demonstrate their knowledge of ionic bond strength using a “brackets” activity. Pairs of students start the activity playing a game of “Ionic Compound War” to build eight compounds. Then then transfer the compounds to a “bracket” and use their knowledge of ionic bonding, along with a solubility chart, to predict the strongest and weakest bond between four pairs of ionic substances.

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  Ionic Bonding, Naming Compounds, Molecular Formula, Ions, Ionic Radius, Solubility, Melting Point, Physical Properties | High School

  Activity: Ionic Bonding Brackets

  In this lesson, students will demonstrate their knowledge of ionic bond strength and its relationship to the properties of melting point and solubility using a “brackets” activity. After analyzing the ionic charge and radius to predict the strongest and weakest bond between four pairs of ionic substances, they will then determine which will be the least soluble.

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  Ionic Bonding, Covalent Bonding, Molecular Formula, Physical Properties | High School

  Lesson Plan: Investigating Properties of Ionic and Covalent Compounds

  In this lesson, students will use a PhET simulation in combination with Safety Data Sheets in order to analyze specific ionic and covalent substances. Students will then use the collected data in order to identify trends in the properties of similar substances.

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  Matter, Physical Properties, Chemical Properties, Mixtures, Elements, Alloys | High School

  Lesson Plan: Observing Properties of Those Marvelous Metals

  In this lesson, students will see how metals, both pure metals and alloys, may have different physical and chemical properties. They will investigate how these properties contribute to their usefulness in manufacturing and construction.

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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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  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, 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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  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.