Classroom Resources: Chemistry Basics
51 – 75 of 310 Classroom Resources
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Heat, Physical Properties, Physical Change, Molecular Structure, Monomer, Polymers | High School
Video: Ingenious Video 7: The World has a Receipt Problem
The receipts you take home from the store – or stuff in your bag, or lose in your car -- employ a printing method that’s been around since the 1970s. Thermal printing involves heat-sensitive inks called leuco dyes that show up when they react with an acid developer embedded in the paper. Not only do these inks fade easily, but receipts that use them aren’t recyclable, and could even be dangerous to your health. Taking a cue from a failed experiment, scientists are developing a new kind of receipt paper that will use the same thermal printers without leuco dyes. Instead of acid developers, this paper is coated in reflective microspheres that collapse under heat, allowing regular ink underneath to show through.
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Model of the Atom, Atoms, Subatomic Particles, Electrons, Valence Electrons, Lewis Dot Diagrams, Electron Configuration, Physical Properties | Middle School, High School
Project: Atomic Holiday Ornaments
In this project, students will design an atomic holiday ornament for a chosen element, along with a certificate of authenticity to display on a “Chemis-tree”. Students will also have the opportunity to vote on the ornaments created by their classmates.
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Review | Middle School, High School
Activity: Vocabulary Learning Made Simple
In this activity, students write definitions for vocabulary words using only the 1000 most common English words. Then students interact with the simplified definitions in order to try to guess the vocabulary words correctly.
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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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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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Establishing Equilibrium, Equilibrium Constants, Reaction Quotient, Graphing | High School
Activity: Shaking Dice to Model Equilibrium Principles
In this activity, students work together in small groups using a variety of multi-sided dice to model the dynamic character of a chemical equilibrium. Students will collect, share and analyze data in order to understand that the rate of a chemical reaction depends on the concentration of reactants (and products) as modelled by the different sided dice.
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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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Molecular Structure, Introduction, Matter | High School
Activity: Real World Particle Diagramming
In this activity, students illustrate everyday objects on the particulate level. To do this, students pick an object around the school (or their home) and then take a picture of the object, research its composition, and draw a particle diagram representation of the object. This helps students to gain confidence in representing matter at a particulate level by starting with familiar objects.
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Periodic Table, Elements, Review, Atomic Radius, Ions, Ionization Energy, Atomic Mass | High School
Activity: Reviewing the Periodic Table and Periodic Trends
In this activity, students will use their knowledge of the periodic table and periodic trends to add fictional elements to a periodic table based on their properties. Once the elements are in the correct place they will reveal a hidden message. This review activity will help students prepare for a summative assessment such as a unit test or final exam.
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History | High School
Activity: Evaluating the Name Reactions in Chemistry
In this activity, students will discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion in chemistry by exploring name reactions in organic chemistry. Students will engage in preliminary reflection, then listen to the podcast, Should organic chemistry’s name reactions go the way of the mouth pipet? from C&EN, and then share their perspective on a discussion board.
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Activity Series, Electrons, Electron Transfer, Balancing Equations, Predicting Products, Chemical Change, Chemical Change, Observations | High School
Activity: Simulation Activity: Metals in Aqueous Solutions
In this activity, students will run simulated tests of various metals in aqueous solutions to determine the relative reactivity of these metals. A total of eight metals will be observed in various combinations with the corresponding metal nitrate solutions and hydrochloric acid. Students will interpret the data collected to construct an activity series of the elements used in this simulation.
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Activity Series, Chemical Change, Electrons, Electron Transfer, Balancing Equations, Chemical Change, Predicting Products, Observations, Acid Base Reactions | High School
Simulation: Metals In Aqueous Solutions
In this activity, students will run simulated tests of various metals in aqueous solutions to determine the relative reactivity of these metals. A total of eight metals will be observed in various combinations with the corresponding metal nitrate solutions and hydrochloric acid. Students will interpret the data collected to construct an activity series of the elements used in this simulation.
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Elements, Periodic Table | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Activity: Element Matching Puzzle
In this activity, students will become more familiar with select elements from the periodic table. They will use the periodic table to determine the symbol for given elements, and recall any prior knowledge about each element. Then students will be challenged to solve a puzzle by organizing a set of cards that contain jumbled information about these elements. After all of the cards have been correctly organized, a secret message can be found.
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Accuracy | High School
Activity: Football Accuracy
In this activity, students will analyze data collected from a football tryout. Using their knowledge of the terms accuracy and precision, students will interpret the data, and apply their understanding to several questions.
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Interdisciplinary, Functional Groups, Molecular Structure | High School
Activity: Ingenious: Is the Answer to Overfishing… Algae? Video Questions
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.
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Periodic Table, History, Elements | High School
Activity: Periodic Table Trivia Crossword Puzzle
In this activity, students will be presented with trivia questions related to the periodic table of elements. Many of the questions can be answered by examining a periodic table, while others are related to specific elements and may require additional research. Students will complete a crossword puzzle as they answer each of the questions.
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History, Interdisciplinary | Middle School, High School
Activity: Spellbound Episode 8 Helen Murray Free Video Questions
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.
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History, Interdisciplinary | Middle School, High School
Activity: Spellbound Episode 7 Peter Agre Video Questions
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.
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Introduction, Interdisciplinary, Experimental Design, Dimensional Analysis | High School
Project: Food Chemistry Infographic
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.
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Lab Safety | Middle School, High School
Activity: Race to Safe
In this activity, students will be engaged in a kinesthetic activity to teach laboratory safety. They will be prompted with different laboratory safety and equipment scenarios and asked to demonstrate the correct safety protocols to follow.
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Polyatomic Ions, Ionic Bonding | High School
Activity: Common Ion Memory Game
In this activity, students will play a modified version of the classic Memory Game in order to help identify common ions by name and symbol. This activity provides an opportunity for students to increase their familiarity with the names and formulas of common ions that they will be expected to properly use when they begin writing chemical formulas and reactions.
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Density, Separating Mixtures, Polymers, Polymers | High School
Activity: Identifying Plastics with Density Data
In this activity, students will familiarize themselves with different types of plastics. Using data analysis, students will determine how to use the density values of a variety of plastic samples in order to separate a specific sample from a mixture.
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Atomic Mass, Subatomic Particles, Law of Conservation of Energy, Conservation of Mass | High School
Activity: Building a Nuclide
In this activity, students will construct a model of a nuclide and use this model to investigate why the mass of the nuclide is less than the summative mass of the individual nucleons (protons and neutrons). Additionally, the constructed nuclide will be used to help students conceptualize and differentiate between key lesson terminology (mass defect, strong nuclear force, and nuclear binding energy).