Classroom Resources: Chemistry Basics

Filter by:

  1. Sort by:

26 – 50 of 126 Classroom Resources

  • Graphing, Interdisciplinary | Middle School, High School

    Activity: Simulation Activity: Graphing Mark as Favorite (13 Favorites)

    In this activity, students will use a simulation to learn good graphing techniques, as well as how to interpret data presented in a graph. They will take a quiz in the simulation, and then have an opportunity to put their graphing skills to work and generate their own graph using sample data.

  • Heat, Temperature, Specific Heat, Law of Conservation of Energy, Enthalpy, Calorimetry, Exothermic & Endothermic, Balancing Equations, Chemical Change, Measurements, Mole Concept, Dimensional Analysis, Culminating Project, Interdisciplinary, Review, Graphing, Observations, Chemical Properties, Physical Properties | High School

    Access is an AACT member benefit. Project: Handwarmer Design Challenge Mark as Favorite (35 Favorites)

    In this project, students will use their knowledge of thermodynamics to design a handwarmer for a manufacturing company that can maintain a temperature of 30-40°C for at least 5 minutes and is designed for the average human hand. Students will create a final product after rounds of testing and an advertising poster that summarizes the results of their testing and promotes their design.

  • Combustion, Chemical Change, Balancing Equations, Reaction Rate, Conservation of Mass, Conservation of Matter, Stoichiometry, Limiting Reactant, Chemical Change, Conservation of Matter, Conservation of Mass, Graphing, Error Analysis, Accuracy, Observations, Inferences, Interdisciplinary, Reaction Rate, Catalysts, Measurements, Mole Concept | High School

    Access is an AACT member benefit. Lesson Plan: Clean Air Chemistry Mark as Favorite (19 Favorites)

    In this lesson, students will learn about air pollution and some steps toward mitigating it. First, they will burn a candle and measure its mass and the concentration of CO2 over time. Students will discuss which data set they have more confidence in and why and then use stoichiometry to predict outcomes. Next, students explore incomplete combustion in a model-based worksheet that shows how a lack of O2 in the burning of fuels can produce air pollution. Students work together to interpret the models, define terms, and draw conclusions. Lastly, students work in groups using Lego models to illustrate how a catalytic converter works. They race “Nature” against catalysts “Palladium,” “Platinum,” and “Rhodium” to see what breaks down air pollution molecules fastest.

  • Molecular Structure , Polymers, Interdisciplinary, Chemical Properties

    Access is an AACT member benefit. Video: Ingenious Video 10: Oversexed Moths are Ruining Apples for Everyone Mark as Favorite (1 Favorite)

    Codling moths may look harmless, but their larvae wreak havoc in orchards, burrowing into fruit and eating them from the inside out. Pesticides have always been the solution to the old “worm in the apple” problem, but pesticides kill all the insects in the field, even the good ones. Instead of pesticides, farmers may soon use pheromones, those scented chemical messages animals release at mating time. Spreading synthetic, species-specific pheromones keeps male codling moths from finding females to mate with. No mating means no eggs, no larvae, and no more bad apples. Scaling up agricultural pheromones has proved difficult, but innovative approaches to pheromone production (using yeast cells) and distribution (with the help of customized weather stations) are starting to make it happen.

  • Molecular Structure , Polymers, Interdisciplinary, Chemical Properties | High School

    Access is an AACT member benefit. Activity: Ingenious: Oversexed Moths Are Ruining Apples for Everyone Video Questions Mark as Favorite (4 Favorites)

    In this activity, students will answer questions while watching the video Oversexed Moths are Ruining Apples for Everyone 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 how the larvae of codling moths wreak havoc in orchards—burrowing into fruit and eating them from the inside out. Scientists are developing synthetic, species-specific pheromones as an alternative to pesticides. Pheromones are scented chemical messages that animals release at mating time and can help to prevent male codling moths from finding females to mate with. No mating means no eggs, no larvae and no more bad apples!

  • Interdisciplinary, Functional Groups, Molecular Structure | High School

    Access is an AACT member benefit. Video: Ingenious Video 8: Is the Answer to Overfishing… Algae? Mark as Favorite (3 Favorites)

    Omega-3s are an essential nutrient that humans have to get from fish. But many of the world’s wild fish species are in crisis because we’ve taken too many of them from the ocean. So the answer is to farm more of our fish, right? While fish-farming relieves some pressure on the ocean’s wild species, it also contributes to that pressure, since farmed fish are fed fishmeal made from wild-caught fish. That’s because fish don’t make their own Omega-3s either. Like us, they get them from their diet. Using technology that came out of the space program, scientists have developed a way to cut out the middle-fish from the food chain and harvest Omega-3s for fishmeal directly from the source: algae.

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

    Access is an AACT member benefit. Activity: Ingenious: This Sandwich Will Save Your Life in an Arc Flash Video Questions Mark as Favorite (8 Favorites)

    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.

  • 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 Mark as Favorite (3 Favorites)

    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.

  • Interdisciplinary, Functional Groups, Molecular Structure | High School

    Access is an AACT member benefit. Activity: Ingenious: Is the Answer to Overfishing… Algae? Video Questions Mark as Favorite (1 Favorite)

    In this activity, students will answer questions while watching the video, Is the Answer to Overfishing… Algae? 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 Omega-3’s, the essential nutrient that humans have to get from fish. However, fish don’t make their own Omega-3’s, and like humans, must get them from an important part of their diet, algae. But with over-fishing considerations and fish-farming limitations, scientists are working to develop a new way to harvest Omega-3’s to maintain stability.

  • History, Interdisciplinary | Middle School, High School

    Access is an AACT member benefit. Activity: Spellbound Episode 8 Helen Murray Free Video Questions Mark as Favorite (2 Favorites)

    In this activity, students will answer questions while watching a video from the Spellbound series produced by ACS. Each episode focuses on a different notable scientist, recounting how their interest in science was sparked in their childhood and how they went on to make great contributions to the scientific community. This eighth episode focuses on the childhood of Helen Murray Free, a former ACS president and pioneering woman in chemistry who developed self-testing diagnostic strips for diabetes and other diseases.

  • History, Interdisciplinary | Middle School, High School

    Access is an AACT member benefit. Activity: Spellbound Episode 7 Peter Agre Video Questions Mark as Favorite (0 Favorites)

    In this activity, students will answer questions while watching a video from the Spellbound series produced by ACS. Each episode focuses on a different notable scientist, recounting how their interest in science was sparked in their childhood and how they went on to make great contributions to the scientific community. This seventh episode focuses on the childhood of Peter Agre, who won the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and is noted for his work in the study of malaria, as well as scientific diplomacy and policy.

  • Introduction, Interdisciplinary, Experimental Design, Dimensional Analysis | High School

    Access is an AACT member benefit. Project: Food Chemistry Infographic Mark as Favorite (24 Favorites)

    In this project, students will research the chemical content and nutritional value of their favorite holiday foods, presenting their findings in an infographic. They will also include a recipe, which they will convert to metric units to practice dimensional analysis. As an extension to explore experimental design, they could alter one aspect of the recipe and observe how that change affects the final product.

  • Molecular Structure , Functional Groups, Experimental Design, Interdisciplinary, Chemical Change | High School

    Access is an AACT member benefit. Lab: Designing Biomimetic Songbird Preen Oil from Waste Cooking Oil Mark as Favorite (16 Favorites)

    In this guided-inquiry lab, students will design and test a procedure reacting waste cooking oil in a blue cheese slurry to create a substance that mimics songbird preen oil, which is both antibacterial and hydrophobic. Students will convert the fatty acids in waste oil to methyl ketones, thought to be the principal antibacterial component of preen oil, using the P. roqueforti mold found in blue cheese. Students will expand their knowledge of biomimicry, inherent properties of preen oil, and chemical synthesis by applying the principles of green chemistry. They will also assess their own process through higher-order problem solving and building on their scientific research skills.

  • Molecular Structure, Lab Safety, Identifying an Unknown, Interdisciplinary | High School

    Access is an AACT member benefit. Lesson Plan: How Modern Instrumentation Revolutionized the Poison Game Mark as Favorite (46 Favorites)

    In this lesson, students are introduced to the world of Forensic Chemistry using the prologue of Deborah Blum’s The Poisoner’s Handbook. Discussion revolves around why murder by poison was so prevalent during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and why it is so rare today.  Students create their own Safety Data Sheet on a poison of choice, and learn about how mass spectroscopy has helped revolutionize the modern analysis of toxins. 

  • Physical Properties, Chemical Properties, Interdisciplinary | High School

    Access is an AACT member benefit. Project: Working for NASA Mark as Favorite (15 Favorites)

    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.

  • History, Interdisciplinary, Chemical Change | Middle School, High School

    Video: Spellbound Episode 1—A Sign on the Door: Ahmed Zewail, Ph.D. Mark as Favorite (5 Favorites)

    Produced for the 2011 International Year of Chemistry, the video series Spellbound, tells the story of scientists whose childhood curiosity about everyday things helped them launch careers in the lab, win Nobel Prizes and make other achievements. Their early childhood experiences may encourage young people into careers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This episode features Ahmed Zewail, Ph.D.

  • History, Interdisciplinary | Middle School, High School

    Video: Spellbound Episode 2 —Finding Her Way: Kristala L. Jones Prather, Ph.D. Mark as Favorite (0 Favorites)

    Produced for the 2011 International Year of Chemistry, the video series Spellbound, tells the story of scientists whose childhood curiosity about everyday things helped them launch careers in the lab, win Nobel Prizes and make other achievements. Their early childhood experiences may encourage young people into careers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This episode features Kristala L. Jones Prather, Ph.D.

  • History, Chemical Change, Interdisciplinary | Middle School, High School

    Video: Spellbound Episode 3—A Yellow Sweater: Bassam Shakhashiri, Ph.D. Mark as Favorite (2 Favorites)

    Produced for the 2011 International Year of Chemistry, the video series Spellbound, tells the story of scientists whose childhood curiosity about everyday things helped them launch careers in the lab, win Nobel Prizes and make other achievements. Their early childhood experiences may encourage young people into careers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This episode features Bassam Shakhashiri, Ph.D.

  • History, Interdisciplinary | Middle School, High School

    Video: Spellbound Episode 4—When Girls Didn't "Do" Science: Mamie Moy Mark as Favorite (0 Favorites)

    Produced for the 2011 International Year of Chemistry, the video series Spellbound, tells the story of scientists whose childhood curiosity about everyday things helped them launch careers in the lab, win Nobel Prizes and make other achievements. Their early childhood experiences may encourage young people into careers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This episode features Mamie Moy.

  • History, Interdisciplinary | Middle School, High School

    Video: Spellbound Episode 5— A Born Chemist: Isiah Warner, Ph.D. Mark as Favorite (1 Favorite)

    Produced for the 2011 International Year of Chemistry, the video series Spellbound, tells the story of scientists whose childhood curiosity about everyday things helped them launch careers in the lab, win Nobel Prizes and make other achievements. Their early childhood experiences may encourage young people into careers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This episode features Isiah Warner, Ph.D.

  • History, Interdisciplinary | Middle School, High School

    Video: Spellbound Episode 6 —Mentors Made the Difference: Nancy Jackson, Ph.D. Mark as Favorite (0 Favorites)

    Produced for the 2011 International Year of Chemistry, the video series Spellbound, tells the story of scientists whose childhood curiosity about everyday things helped them launch careers in the lab, win Nobel Prizes and make other achievements. Their early childhood experiences may encourage young people into careers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This episode features Nancy Jackson, Ph.D.

  • History, Interdisciplinary | Middle School, High School

    Video: Spellbound Episode 7—Heroes Made the Difference: Peter Agre, M.D. Mark as Favorite (0 Favorites)

    Produced for the 2011 International Year of Chemistry, the video series Spellbound, tells the story of scientists whose childhood curiosity about everyday things helped them launch careers in the lab, win Nobel Prizes and make other achievements. Their early childhood experiences may encourage young people into careers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This episode features Peter Agre, M.D.

  • History, Interdisciplinary | Middle School, High School

    Video: Spellbound Episode 8—The Winds of War: Helen Free, Ph.D. Mark as Favorite (0 Favorites)

    Produced for the 2011 International Year of Chemistry, the video series Spellbound, tells the story of scientists whose childhood curiosity about everyday things helped them launch careers in the lab, win Nobel Prizes and make other achievements. Their early childhood experiences may encourage young people into careers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This episode features Helen Free, Ph.D.

  • Periodic Table, Interdisciplinary | High School

    Access is an AACT member benefit. Project: Repurpose the Periodic Table Mark as Favorite (60 Favorites)

    In this project, students will take the principles governing the organization of the periodic table and apply them to a periodic table of their own creation. Students will choose a category of objects and organize them into a “periodic table,” establishing trends across a period and within a group and creating a poster to present their table to the class.

  • History, Interdisciplinary | Middle School, High School

    Access is an AACT member benefit. Activity: Spellbound Episode 2 Kristala L. Jones Prather Video Questions Mark as Favorite (0 Favorites)

    In this activity, students will answer questions while watching a video from the Spellbound series produced by ACS. Each episode focuses on a different notable scientist, recounting how their interest in science was sparked in their childhood and how they went on to make great contributions to the scientific community. This second episode focuses on the childhood of Kristala L. Jones Prather, who went on to become a chemical engineer and award-winning professor.

Filtered By

Subtopics: Interdisciplinary

Clear All Filters

    Available Filters

    Subtopic
    Type