Classroom Resources: Energy & Thermodynamics
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101 – 125 of 145 Classroom Resources
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Heat, Physical Properties, Physical Change, Molecular Structure, Monomer, Polymers | High School
Activity: Ingenious: The World Has a Receipt Problem Video Questions Mark as Favorite (6 Favorites)
In this activity, students will answer questions while watching the video The World has a Receipt Problem 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 process of thermal printing on receipts, and the limitations related to the paper that currently prints using leuco dyes. This heat-sensitive ink appears when it reacts with an acid developer embedded in the paper. Scientists are working to develop a new kind of thermal receipt paper, that can use the same printers, however it offers many additional benefits and potential uses.
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Chemical Change, Combustion, Balancing Equations, Density, Specific Heat | High School
Demonstration: Methane Bubble (Dragon Ball Z) Mark as Favorite (6 Favorites)
In this demonstration, students will observe the combustion of a methane bubble. This exciting demonstration can be used as a dramatic and engaging introduction to the concepts of combustion reactions, chemical change, and balancing equations.
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Combustion, Heat of Combustion, Stoichiometry, Balancing Equations, Dimensional Analysis, Interdisciplinary, Culminating Project | High School
Lesson Plan: Redesigning a Car for the Environment Mark as Favorite (26 Favorites)
Chemland’s city public transportation board has requested the class to help them determine the direction the city should move towards in reducing the carbon footprint. Students will be divided into groups and will come up with proposals of how to reduce the carbon footprint from carbon dioxide released from vehicles. The groups will represent different ways to reduce the carbon footprint via an alternative fuel source or a new technology. They will debate their findings to determine the direction that the city council should move towards to reduce the carbon footprint.
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Pros Cons of Nuclear Power, Combustion, Acid Rain, Radiation, Renewable Energy, Radiation | High School
Activity: Town Meeting Mark as Favorite (37 Favorites)
In this activity, students will learn about acid rain, gas scrubbers, half-life, chain reactions, and other topics around electricity production through a debate on nuclear power.
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Phase Changes, Molecular Motion, Intermolecular Forces, Heat of Combustion, Temperature, Exothermic & Endothermic | High School
Lab: Investigating Condensation Mark as Favorite (8 Favorites)
In this lab, students will explore the phase change of condensation and determine whether this process is endothermic or exothermic. Students will then investigate how water vapor condenses, what effect surrounding temperature has on the rate of condensation, and what is happening to the molecules when they condense.
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Freezing Point Depression, Heat, Phase Changes, Molecular Motion | Middle School, High School
Lab: Sweet, Salty and Cold as Ice Mark as Favorite (33 Favorites)
In this lab, students conduct a micro-scale investigation to explore how various solutes affect the freezing point of water. Because of the small volume of liquid used, results are visible within minutes. Students observe what happens to the liquids as they are cooled and use their observations to infer what is going on at the particle level. They will use the results to explain the familiar phenomena of why we salt our roads and sidewalks in the winter and why freshwater lakes and ponds freeze over more easily than saltwater oceans in the winter.
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Classification of Reactions, Combustion, Heat of Combustion, Balancing Equations | High School
Demonstration: Exploding Pumpkin Mark as Favorite (16 Favorites)
In this demonstration, students will witness a chemical reaction create an explosion inside of a pumpkin. They will write balanced equations for the reactions that take place and will complete stoichiometry and thermochemistry calculations.
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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 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.
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Electromagnetic Spectrum, Molecular Structure, Chemical Bond, Molecular Structure | High School
Video: Ingenious Video 2: What Birds Know About Color that You Don't Mark as Favorite (8 Favorites)
We’ve been using pigments and dyes for thousands of years, but they’re not the whole story when it comes to making color. “Structural” color occurs when tiny nanostructures interact with light waves, amplifying certain colors and canceling others. From brilliant bird feathers to butterfly wings, mole hairs to octopus skin, structural color is everywhere in the natural world. Researchers have tried for years to harness this incredible natural phenomenon in a useful way. Because these colors are so small and complex, and therefore hard to copy, their efforts have met with little success. But novel research using a computer model based in repeated random sampling — a so-called “Monte Carlo” model — is showing promise. Using this approach, scientists have been able to mimic the gorgeous blue of the mountain bluebird in a thin film of reflective beads, leapfrogging millennia of evolution.
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Heat, Temperature, Specific Heat, Observations, Molecular Motion | High School, Middle School
Activity: What Makes Something Feel Warm Mark as Favorite (58 Favorites)
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.
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Molecular Structure, Chemical Bond, Electromagnetic Spectrum, Molecular Structure | High School
Activity: Ingenious: What Birds Know About Color that You Don't Video Questions Mark as Favorite (3 Favorites)
In this activity, students will answer questions while watching the video, What Birds Know about Color that You Don’t, 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 structural color, its complexities as well as how it differs from pigments and dyes.
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Reduction, Oxidation, Redox Reaction, Catalysts, Activation Energy, Combustion | Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Video: Catalytic Converters Video Mark as Favorite (32 Favorites)
This video investigates the role of a catalytic converter and its corresponding chemical reactions within a vehicle. Students will learn about both oxidation and reduction reactions and how they, in combination with a catalyst, can impact the molecules released in a car’s exhaust.
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Heat, Specific Heat, Temperature, Experimental Design, Scientific Method, Physical Properties | High School, Middle School
Lesson Plan: Designing & Engineering a Fast Defroster Mark as Favorite (13 Favorites)
In this activity students use their understanding of energy transfer to “design a solution to a complex real-world problem, based on scientific knowledge, student-generated sources of evidence, prioritized criteria, and tradeoff considerations.” And “evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem, based on scientific knowledge, student-generated sources of evidence, prioritized criteria, and tradeoff considerations.” The real world problem is to help a cook who is trying to make a meal, but realizes some of the ingredients are frozen and must be thawed before he can begin.
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Electromagnetic Spectrum, Atomic Spectra, Electrons | High School
Demonstration: Flame Test (Rainbow Demo) Mark as Favorite (110 Favorites)
In this demonstration, students will observe the variety of colors produced when different metals or metallic salts are heated in a flame.
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Heat of Vaporization , Boiling Point, Intermolecular Forces, Phase Changes, Heating Curve, Heat of Combustion, Temperature, Specific Heat, Observations, Chemical Change, Physical Change | Middle School, High School
Demonstration: Cooking an Egg in Chemistry Class Mark as Favorite (7 Favorites)
In this demonstration, students will observe the very high latent heat of vaporization for water by boiling water over a Bunsen burner in a paper cup to cook a boiled egg. The discussion can be extended to incorporate intermolecular forces to explain the unusually high boiling point of water, as well as heat of vaporization and specific heat capacity.
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Reaction Rate, Activation Energy, Catalysts, Combustion, Reaction Rate | High School
Demonstration: Rates of Reactions Mark as Favorite (30 Favorites)
In this series of demonstrations, students will be introduced to factors that affect the rates of chemical reactions. They will observe and record their observations, while also describing the rate-influencing factor for each demonstration as well as evidence supporting whether or not the reaction rate was increased or decreased by the factor.
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Atomic Spectra, Activity Series, Emission Spectrum, Ions, Electromagnetic Spectrum, Emission Spectrum, Observations, Inferences | High School
Lab: Flame Test: Going Further Mark as Favorite (61 Favorites)
In this lab, students will investigate the colors produced when several mixtures of metallic ions are placed in a flame.
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Renewable Energy, Culminating Project | High School
Project: Sustainable Energy Evaluation Mark as Favorite (25 Favorites)
In this project, students will develop a presentation to compare the pros and cons of a sustainable resource. The explanation will involve researching the cost and benefits of the resource and analyzing if the resource should continue to be used.
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Physical Change, Intermolecular Forces, Heating Curve, Phase Changes, Graphing, Heat, Exothermic & Endothermic, Temperature, Freezing Point, Melting Point | High School
Lab: Heating & Cooling Curve Mark as Favorite (48 Favorites)
In this lab, students will create a phase change graph by adding and removing heat to observe and record data during actual phase changes.
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Pros Cons of Nuclear Power, Radiation, Radiation, Renewable Energy, Interdisciplinary, History | High School
Activity: Nuclear Energy Debate Mark as Favorite (39 Favorites)
In this activity, students will watch a debate between experts on the merits and drawbacks of nuclear energy. They will use this debate, as well as additional research, to write a short position paper on whether or not to continue using nuclear energy that explains and defends their opinion, as well as the chemistry involved in nuclear energy production.
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Pros Cons of Nuclear Power, Radiation, Radiation, Renewable Energy, Interdisciplinary, History | High School
Activity: Nuclear Energy Power Plants Mark as Favorite (29 Favorites)
In this activity, students will conduct research and write a persuasive essay in which they state an opinion about whether the number of nuclear plants should be increased or decreased.
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Limiting Reactant, Chemical Change, Conservation of Mass, Stoichiometry, Observations, Inferences, Chemical Change, Exothermic & Endothermic | High School
Demonstration: Introducing Limiting Reactants Mark as Favorite (15 Favorites)
In this demonstration, the teacher will perform a series of reactions between acetic acid--vinegar-- and varying amounts of sodium bicarbonate --baking soda--in order to inflate several Ziploc bags. Students will observe the reactions and analyze the quantities of reactants used as well as the results in order to understand the concept of limiting reactants. Students will also determine if the reaction is an endothermic or exothermic process based on their observations.
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Calorimetry, Law of Conservation of Energy, Combustion, Heat of Combustion, Specific Heat, Heat, Exothermic & Endothermic, Bond Energy, Temperature, Measurements, Accuracy, Dimensional Analysis, Error Analysis | High School
Lab: How Much Energy is in Your Snack Food? Mark as Favorite (54 Favorites)
In this lab, students will find the amount of heat energy stored in foods and compare heat calories with food calories.
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Atomic Spectra, Electrons, Electromagnetic Spectrum | High School
Lesson Plan: Atomic Spectra for At-Home Learning Mark as Favorite (13 Favorites)
In this lesson, students first observe a flame test demonstration conducted by their teacher, and hypothesize about the identity of an unknown sample. Then they make connections in their understanding as they are tasked with building a prism, researching about wavelengths, and creating a model of electron energy levels.
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Chemical Change, Exothermic & Endothermic | High School
Lab: Little Miss Muffet Mark as Favorite (40 Favorites)
In this lab, students make homemade glue from milk and compare it to commercial glue.