Classroom Resources: Chemistry Basics
101 – 125 of 148 Classroom Resources
-
Temperature, History, Accuracy, Physical Properties | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Video: The Temperature Guys Video
This video tells the story of how temperature as we currently know it evolved. The first thermometers invented in the early 1600s are very different than ones we use today!
-
Periodic Table, History, Physical Properties | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Video: Silicon Video
In this video, Sam Kean tells stories about silicon.
-
Gas Laws, Pressure, Volume, History | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Video: Robert Boyle Video
This video tells the story of Robert Boyle, a great chemist and discoverer of Boyle's Law, which describes the relationship between pressure and volume of a gas.
-
Molecular Structure, Molecular Geometry, History, Periodic Table, Molecular Structure | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Video: Phosphorous Video
In this video, Sam Kean tells the story of how phosphorus was at the center of the race to discover the structure of DNA.
-
Periodic Table, History | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Video: Mercury Video
In this video, Sam Kean tells stories about Mercury.
-
Radioactive Isotopes, Radiation, Half Lives, History | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Video: Marie Curie Video
This video tells the story about Marie Curie, including her Nobel Prizes, radiation experiments, and discovery of new elements. Irene Curie is also mentioned.
-
Periodic Table, History | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Video: Manganese Video
In this video, Sam Kean tells stories about manganese.
-
Periodic Table, History, Physical Properties | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Video: Gallium Video
In this video, Sam Kean tells stories about gallium.
-
Radioactive Isotopes, History, Subatomic Particles, Model of the Atom, Atomic Theory | Middle School, High School
Video: Ernest Rutherford Video
Rutherford's initial research was studying alpha particles, which he hypothesized were helium nuclei. With the help of Hans Geiger, Rutherford conducted the gold foil experiment, which justifies that the nucleus of an atom is a dense collection of protons and contains the majority of an atom’s mass. It also inferred that most of the atom is empty space and electrons are not located in the nucleus. He won the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1908 for his studies on radioactive substances.
-
Atomic Mass, Atomic Theory, Model of the Atom, Subatomic Particles, Periodic Table, History | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Video: Dimitri Mendeleev Video
This video tells the story of how Dimitri Mendeleev organized the periodic table, even leaving gaps to be filled in with elements that weren't yet discovered.
-
Periodic Table, History, Identifying an Unknown | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Video: Cadmium Video
In this video, Sam Kean tells stories about cadmium.
-
Periodic Table, History | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Video: Hydrogen Video
In this video, Sam Kean tells stories about hydrogen.
-
Periodic Table, History, Radioactive Isotopes | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Video: Astatine Video
In this video, Sam Kean tells stories about astatine, the rarest element in the universe.
-
Periodic Table, History, Radioactive Isotopes, Alpha/Beta/Gamma Decay | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Video: Helium Video
In this video, Sam Kean tells stories about helium.
-
Periodic Table, History, Identifying an Unknown | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Video: Arsenic Video
In this video, Sam Kean tells stories about arsenic, a deadly element that was once referred to as the "Inheritance Powder".
-
Periodic Table, History, Physical Change | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Video: Gold Video
In this video, Sam Kean tells stories about gold.
-
Conservation of Mass, History, Observations, Measurements, SI Units | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Video: Antoine Lavoisier Video
This video tells the story of Antoine Lavoisier who many consider to be the father or modern chemistry. Lavoisier discovered oxygen and hydrogen and first proposed the Law of Conservation of Mass.
-
History, Physical Properties, Observations, Model of the Atom | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Video: Ancient Chemistry Video
This video traces the history of chemistry from the discovery of fire, through the various metal ages, and finally to the great philosophers.
-
Acid & Base Theories, Strong vs Weak, History | Middle School, High School
Video: Acid & Base Guys Video
This video tells the story of how the definition of acids and bases has evolved from Lavoisier, to Arrhenius, Bronsted-Lowry, and Lewis.
-
Periodic Table, Elements, Introduction, History, Atoms, Electrons, Subatomic Particles | Middle School, Elementary School, High School
Activity: Writing Your Name using Chemical Element Symbols
In this activity, students will use their creativity to spell their name (first or middle name and their last name) using chemical symbols of elements on the periodic table. For example, you can spell Yvonne using the symbols for yttrium (Y), vanadium (V), oxygen (O), nitrogen (N), and neon (Ne).
-
Lab Safety | High School, Elementary School, Middle School
Activity: What Not to do in the Chemistry Lab
In this activity, students will examine a cartoon of a chaotic chemistry laboratory and note the specific behaviors that are dangerous and unsafe in a chemistry laboratory setting. This activity provides an opportunity for teachers to introduce laboratory safety and best laboratory practices and discuss them with their students.
-
Heat, Temperature, Specific Heat, Observations, Molecular Motion | High School, Middle School
Activity: What Makes Something Feel Warm
In this lesson students actively engage in thinking about energy issues in chemistry and the nature of energy (thermal) transfer. The idea that temperature is a measure of heat content will be challenged, and students will be given the opportunity to collect data that will allow them to clearly see that different materials transfer energy at different rates.
-
Conservation of Mass, Balancing Equations, Limiting Reactant, Introduction, Conservation of Mass | Middle School, High School
Activity: Kinesthetic Reactions
In this lesson students, through their physical movement, will model the law of conservation of mass during a chemical reaction. Students will also explore the concepts of limiting and excess reactants as well as balancing a chemical equation. Through this activity they also develop a means of representing particles at the molecular level.
-
Elements, Model of the Atom, History, Introduction, Matter, Observations, Periodic Table, Culminating Project, Atoms | Middle School, High School
Activity: Is a Picture Worth 1000 Words?
In this activity, students will learn about early chemistry discoveries through a textbook reading as well as from a cartoon.
-
Molecular Formula, Ionic Bonding, Covalent Bonding, Molecular Geometry, Naming Compounds, Lewis Structures, Periodic Table, Valence Electrons, Lewis Dot Diagrams, Ions, Subatomic Particles | High School, Middle School
Activity: Simulation Activity: Ionic and Covalent Bonding
In this simulation, students investigate both ionic and covalent bonding. Students will have the opportunity to interact with many possible combinations of atoms and will be tasked with determining the type of bond and the number of atom needed to form each. The simulation visually differentiates between the transferring of electrons when forming an ionic compound and the sharing of electrons when forming a covalent compound so that students can have a complete understanding of each. Finally, students will become familiar with the molecular formula, as well as the naming system for each type of bond and geometric shape, when applicable.