Classroom Resources: Chemistry Basics

1 – 25 of 37 Classroom Resources

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  Separating Mixtures, Identifying an Unknown, Functional Groups, Molecular Structure | High School

  Lesson Plan: Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

  In this lesson, students will learn about the development of Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and how it used today. There are a series of activities to help promote literacy in the science classroom related to the reading. Through these activities students will learn how to interpret a skeletal structure, as well as the names and structures of several organic functional groups. Additionally, they will examine and evaluate a mass spectrum. This lesson could be easily used as plans for a substitute teacher, as most of the activities are self-guided.

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  Separating Mixtures, Distillation, Physical Properties | High School

  Activity: Investigating Crude Oil

  In this activity, students will watch a video and answer questions about crude oil and the process of fractional distillation. They will see how this process effectively separates a mixture and the importance of understanding physical properties.

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

  Animation: Separating Mixtures Animation

  In this animation, students will be introduced to different ways of separating a variety of mixtures. The separation techniques addressed in this animation include filtration, evaporation, distillation, and chromatography (focusing on paper chromatography). Real-world applications as well as particle diagrams of the separation processes are included. **This video has no audio**

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

  Activity: Animation Activity: Separating Mixtures

  In this activity, students will view an animation that introduces them to different ways of separating a variety of mixtures. The separation techniques addressed in this animation include filtration, evaporation, distillation, and chromatography (focusing on paper chromatography). Real-world applications as well as particle diagrams of the separation processes are included.

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  Separating Mixtures, Physical Properties, Mixtures

  Video: Ingenious Video 9: The World’s Smallest Water Treatment Plant Comes in a Packet

  About 800,000,000 people worldwide – that’s almost one in ten, more than the population of the U.S. – don’t have reliable access to clean water. Using a technology first developed to reuse dirty laundry water, scientists have developed a water treatment plant the size of a teabag. Inside, a potent chemical triple-threat removes microbes, heavy metals, silt and dirt to produce clean, safe water one bucket at a time.

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  Separating Mixtures, Physical Properties, Mixtures | High School

  Activity: Ingenious: The World's Smallest Water Treatment Plant Comes in a Packet Video Questions

  In this activity, students will answer questions while watching the video The World’s Smallest Water Treatment Plant Comes in a Packet 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 global shortage in accessing clean water. Using a technology that was first developed to reuse dirty laundry water, scientists have developed a water treatment plant the size of a teabag that contains a chemical triple-threat—it removes microbes, heavy metals, silt and dirt to produce clean, safe water.

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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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  Review, Culminating Project, Mixtures, Separating Mixtures, Beer's Law, Concentration, Conductivity, Redox Reaction, Half Reactions, pH, Titrations, Buffers, Indicators, Ionic Bonding, Covalent Bonding, Alloys, Percent Composition, Le Châtelier's Principle, Enthalpy, Calorimetry | High School

  Lesson Plan: AP Chemistry Experimental Evidence Review

  In this lesson, students will evaluate data from 16 simulated lab experiments that were designed to mirror the Recommended Labs from the College Board. Corresponding lab experiments and demonstration options have also been included for teacher reference.

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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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  Solubility, Intermolecular Forces, Mixtures, Separating Mixtures | High School

  Lab: Using Paper Chromatography to Separate the Pigments Found in Ink

  In this lab, students will separate the component pigments of a water-soluble black marker using paper chromatography.

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  Introduction, Lab Safety, Chemical Properties, Physical Properties, Chemical Change, Physical Change, History, Separating Mixtures, Measurements, SI Units, Significant Figures | High School

  Lesson Plan: Chemistry Basics Unit Plan

  The AACT High School Classroom Resource library and multimedia collection has everything you need to put together a unit plan for your classroom: lessons, activities, labs, projects, videos, simulations, and animations. We searched through our resource library and constructed a unit plan for introducing the basic chemistry concepts to students: Laboratory Safety, Equipment, and Reports, Periodic Table Basics, Physical and Chemical Properties and Changes, Endothermic and Exothermic Changes, and Classification of Matter. These topics are very important for your students to master before they dig into other chemistry concepts. This unit is designed to be used at beginning of the school year.

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  Distillation, Physical Change, Separating Mixtures, Phase Changes | Middle School

  Activity: Distillation in Survival Mode

  In this activity, students will investigate methods for purifying water as they consider a survival based situation that requires clean drinking water. Students will investigate processes such as boiling and distillation, as well as review the phase changes within the water cycle.

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  Separating Mixtures, Physical Properties, Mixtures, Solute & Solvent | Elementary School, Middle School

  Lab: What Does Ironman Eat for Breakfast?

  In this lab students will compare and contrast mixtures and solutions. They will be tasked with extracting iron from various breakfast cereals. They will then conclude which cereal would be the healthiest for Iron Man to eat for breakfast.

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  Mixtures, Molecular Structure, Separating Mixtures, Solute & Solvent | High School

  Lesson Plan: What Type of Mixture is Paint?

  In this lesson students will use simple laboratory tests to characterize differences between solutions, colloids, and suspensions. They will then apply those tests to paints to classify them as specific types of mixtures.

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  Separating Mixtures, Observations, Physical Properties, Conservation of Matter | Elementary School

  Activity: How is Chemistry Used in Your Everyday Life?

  In this lesson the students will become familiar with some ways that chemistry is present in their everyday lives. The teacher will read a book and show a short video about how a plastic bottle is made. Following these activities, students will interact with a variety of materials made of plastic, ultimately organizing them according to the recycling code printed on the bottom of each or by physical properties. Finally students will collect data and have an opportunity to construct a graph based on their data.

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  Separating Mixtures, Observations | Elementary School

  Lab: Settle that Soil

  In this lab, students will learn about what properties constitute soil and how it is different than “dirt.” Students will also be able to distinguish the difference between sand, silt, and clay.

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  Separating Mixtures, Physical Properties, Observations, Matter, Introduction, Mixtures | Elementary School

  Activity: Sandbox!

  In this activity the students will separate a mixture and classify objects by their physical properties.

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  Physical Properties, Density, Separating Mixtures, Matter, Culminating Project, Interdisciplinary, Phase Changes | Elementary School, Middle School

  Activity: The Castaway!

  In this activity, students use their knowledge of the properties of matter to create and/or design items needed for survival on a deserted island.

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  Chemical Change, Exothermic & Endothermic, Chemical Change, Physical Change, Separating Mixtures | Elementary School

  Lab: Super Suds

  In this lab, students will investigate an endothermic chemical reaction by combining baking soda, hand soap and citric acid. The students will be tasked with differentiating between chemical and physical changes during this experiment.

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  Limiting Reactant, Percent Yield, Stoichiometry, Balancing Equations, Measurements, Observations, Error Analysis, Separating Mixtures, Error Analysis, Dimensional Analysis, Mole Concept | High School

  Lab: Limiting Reactant Lab

  In this lab, students react copper(II) chloride with aluminum to determine the limiting reactant. They then isolate one product to determine their percent yield.

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  Limiting Reactant, Percent Yield, Stoichiometry, Balancing Equations, Net Ionic Equation, Concentration, Molarity, Precipitate, Solubility, Dimensional Analysis, Mole Concept, Observations, Graphing, Separating Mixtures, Identifying an Unknown | High School

  Lab: White Lab

  In this lab, students use molarity concepts to review limiting reactant concepts mathematically, conceptually, and graphically. They can then carry out a follow up investigation to identify an unknown using concepts learned in the first investigation.

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  Separating Mixtures, Separating Mixtures | Elementary School

  Lab: Investigating Black Ink

  In this lab, students will discover that black ink is a mixture composed of a several different pigments through a chromatography investigation.

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  Chemical Change, Physical Change, Separating Mixtures, Observations, Mixtures, Chemical Properties, Physical Properties, Experimental Design, Scientific Method | High School, Middle School

  Lab: Test Tube Separation

  In this lab, students will mix four substances in a test tube and recreate the original four layers through chemical and physical means.

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  Isomers, Intermolecular Forces, Molecular Geometry, Molecular Structure, Intermolecular Forces, Boiling Point, Melting Point, Phase Changes, Isomers, Molecular Structure , Distillation, Separating Mixtures, Physical Properties | High School

  Lesson Plan: Structural Isomers

  In this activity, students will use models to explore structural isomers, and create explanations for the impact of structure on intermolecular forces (London dispersion) and physical properties (boiling point).