1 – 25 of 69 Classroom Resources

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  Catalysts, Molecular Structure | High School

  Video: Ingenious Video 1: The Strange Chemistry Behind Why You Get Sick on Planes Mark as Favorite (1 Favorite)

  The compound ozone, a known respiratory irritant, exists in high concentrations at flight altitudes, making the “fresh air” sucked in by air conditioners at those heights, well, not so fresh. In fact ozone exposure may be responsible for many of the short-term discomforts we associate with air travel. What’s more, ozone can react with other compounds in the air -- even the oils of our skin -- to produce other toxic compounds, like aldehydes and ketones. Some planes have catalytic converters, like the ones in cars, which use transition metals to turn ozone into breathable oxygen. But not every plane has one!

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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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  Polymers, Molecular Structure, Molecular Structure , Polymers, Solubility | High School

  Video: Ingenious Video 4: How Science Is Fixing Recycling's Grossest Problem Mark as Favorite (4 Favorites)

  Polypropylene recycling has a problem: It stinks. Food and other residues are almost impossible to remove entirely from polypropylene, a.k.a the number “5” plastic of grocery-store fame. Those residues – anything from yogurt to garlic, from fish oil to baby food – not only stick to polypropylene, they degrade there and start to smell even worse! Current polypropylene recycling techniques are more down-cycling than re-cycling. Unless you break down its molecules through a highly energy-intensive refining process, the material can only get a second life as a black trash can or an underground pipe – wherever its smell doesn’t matter. But a new technique, called dissolution recycling, is changing all that. Dissolution recycling uses a special hydrocarbon polymer solvent under finely controlled conditions of temperature and pressure to eliminate ALL of the contaminants embedded in the plastic.

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  Molecular Structure, Intermolecular Forces, Polarity, Molecular Structure , Combustion | High School

  Video: Ingenious Video 5: Making Shipping Greener with Hairy Ships Mark as Favorite (6 Favorites)

  The “fouling” of boats — when aquatic animals like barnacles and tubeworms attach to hulls — has been a nuisance for as long as we’ve been sailing the seas. Fouling messes up a vessel’s streamlined shape, decreasing its speed, maneuverability, and in modern times, its fuel-efficiency. Fouling spikes the carbon footprint of the shipping industry, already greater than that of most countries. For centuries, people used copper coatings to prevent fouling. Modern solutions use toxic chemical paints that pollute the water, kill marine life, and contribute to the degradation of our oceans when they wear off. A new approach is trying to work with nature instead of against it. Taking inspiration from the Salvinia plant, which is covered in tiny hair-like structures that make it basically waterproof, scientists are developing a stick-on silicone coating for ships that prevents animal hitchhikers from getting a foothold.

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  Molecular Structure, Intermolecular Forces, Polarity, Polymers, Molecular Structure , Functional Groups, Polymers | High School

  Video: Ingenious Video 6: Kill More Germs by Cleaning … Less? Mark as Favorite (2 Favorites)

  There’s clean, and then there’s CLEAN. Even if something looks clean, it might still be harboring microbes – many of them harmless, some of them definitely not. With most of the ways that we clean and disinfect — that is, kill germs — the clean doesn’t last as long as you might think. Disinfectants work by attacking bacterial membranes and viral protein coats, breaking them down so that those germs fall apart and die. But the germaphobes were always right: As soon as a disinfectant dries, and a surface is re-exposed, like if someone touches or (worse) sneezes on it, it needs be disinfected all over again. The next generation of cleaning products, however, add a trick: they lay down an incredibly thin polymer layer that keeps the germ-killing ingredients in place and effective for 24 hours at a time.

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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 Mark as Favorite (3 Favorites)

  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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  Mixtures, Solute & Solvent, Intermolecular Forces, Intermolecular Forces, Molecular Formula, Molecular Structure, Polymers, Electromagnetic Spectrum | Middle School, High School

  Video: What is Paint? Video Mark as Favorite (9 Favorites)

  This video investigates the composition of paint, while analyzing the fundamental chemistry principles of its main components. Students will learn about the differences between three common paint types, water colors, oil-based and acrylic paint as well as the chemistry of each.

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  Lewis Structures, VSEPR Theory, Covalent Bonding, Molecular Geometry, Molecular Structure, Atomic Radius, Electrons, Valence Electrons, Identifying an Unknown, Periodic Table | High School

  Activity: Guess That Molecule! Exploring Lewis Structures and VSEPR Geometry Mark as Favorite (1 Favorite)

  In this activity, students will use clues to identify atoms in a given molecular model, then draw its corresponding Lewis structure. Students will analyze both models to determine model limitations and ultimately discover the VSEPR theory.

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  Mixtures, Physical Properties, Molecular Structure, Mixtures | Elementary School, Middle School, High School

  Demonstration: Analyzing Mixtures Mark as Favorite (45 Favorites)

  In this demonstration, the teacher will create a sequence of mixtures in a single test tube. Water, oil, food coloring and soap will be used in this demonstration to introduce the concepts of heterogeneous and homogeneous solutions as well as the idea of miscibility. Students will also have the opportunity to analyze the properties, such as surface tension of each component used.

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  Molecular Structure , Functional Groups, Isomers, Observations, Molecular Structure, Isomers | High School

  Activity: Spices and Structures Mark as Favorite (28 Favorites)

  In this activity, students will taste and make notes about the flavors of 6 common spices used to flavor food and then compare the flavors and molecular structures of the spices.

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  Physical Properties, Molecular Structure, Polarity | High School, Middle School

  Activity: What Makes Water So Special? Mark as Favorite (74 Favorites)

  In this activity, students will become familiar with the special properties of water by completing several activities that investigate the following physical properties/phenomena: cohesion, adhesion, surface tension, and capillary action.

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  Ionic Bonding, Covalent Bonding, Molecular Structure, Molecular Formula, Molecular Geometry, Naming Compounds, Polarity, Electronegativity, Intermolecular Forces, VSEPR Theory, Resonance, Metallic Bonding | High School

  Lesson Plan: Chemical Bonding Unit Plan Mark as Favorite (80 Favorites)

  The AACT high school classroom resource library has everything you need to put together a unit plan for your classroom: lessons, activities, labs, projects, videos, simulations, and animations. We constructed a unit plan using AACT resources that is designed to teach Chemical Bonding to your students.

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  Physical Properties, Intermolecular Forces, Identifying an Unknown, Experimental Design, Scientific Method, Error Analysis, Graphing, Molecular Structure | High School

  Lesson Plan: The Importance of Motor Oil Viscosity in Optimal Car Functioning Mark as Favorite (21 Favorites)

  In this lesson students will determine how temperature affects viscosity and relate the data to the structure of motor oil and the optimal functioning of a car.

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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 Mark as Favorite (23 Favorites)

  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).

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  Intermolecular Forces, Solubility, Intermolecular Forces, Intramolecular Forces, Polarity, Lewis Structures, Molecular Structure, Solute & Solvent, Mixtures, Melting Point, Freezing Point, Boiling Point, Physical Properties, Graphing, Mixtures | High School

  Lab: Physical Properties (High School) Mark as Favorite (42 Favorites)

  In this lesson, students investigate how intermolecular forces effect physical properties by investigating substances’ melting points as well as solubility.

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  Intermolecular Forces, Polarity, Molecular Geometry, Molecular Structure, Molecular Structure , Physical Properties, Chemical Properties, Physical Change | High School

  Lesson Plan: An Exploration of Intermolecular Forces Mark as Favorite (78 Favorites)

  In this lesson students will explore intermolecular forces, and their associated effect on physical and chemical properties. Students will experiment with volatile liquids to investigate their predictions about intermolecular strength.

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  VSEPR Theory, Molecular Structure, Molecular Geometry | High School

  Activity: VSEPR Modeling Mark as Favorite (88 Favorites)

  In this activity, students construct physical models of molecular shapes. However, students are not told what the preferred arrangements of electron pair domains are. Instead, they derive the arrangements. Students are given the opportunity to conceptualize what is happening when one electron pair domain acts upon another, and to understand how those interactions result in the molecular geometries predicted by VSEPR theory.

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  Buffers, Solubility, Molecular Structure | High School

  Lab: Aspirin Tablets: Are they all the Same? Mark as Favorite (65 Favorites)

  In this lab, students will design an experiment to test the time and completeness of dissolution of various types of aspirin in different pH environments.

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  Saturated vs. Unsaturated, Molecular Structure , Molecular Structure, Covalent Bonding, Lewis Structures, Interdisciplinary, Dimensional Analysis, Intermolecular Forces, Melting Point | High School

  Lesson Plan: Dietary Fats Mark as Favorite (16 Favorites)

  In this lesson, students will learn about the chemistry of dietary fats in the food they eat. They will calculate the number of calories coming from fats, carbohydrates, and proteins based on a food label before completing a guided activity focused on investigating the chemical structures of different types of fats. Students will then engage in a literacy component where they will use an article about the biological role of various types of dietary fats and foods to answer a series of questions.

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  Radiation, Molecular Structure, Polarity, Heat | High School

  Lesson Plan: Why Does Carbon Get Such a Bad Rap? Mark as Favorite (4 Favorites)

  In this lesson, students will use a climate change scenario to understand the role that polar bonds play in whether a molecule can be considered a greenhouse gas, while learning the particle nature of matter-energy interactions.

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  Physical Properties, Molecular Structure, Intermolecular Forces | Middle School, High School

  Lesson Plan: Structure Matters Mark as Favorite (12 Favorites)

  In this lesson, students will explore the atomic level structure of various elements and compounds to determine how arrangement of atoms at the microscopic level affects macroscopic material properties.

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

  Lesson Plan: How Modern Instrumentation Revolutionized the Poison Game Mark as Favorite (54 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. 

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  Electromagnetic Spectrum, Redox Reaction, Molecular Structure, Law of Conservation of Energy, Half Reactions, Oxidation Number, Oxidation, Reduction, Intermolecular Forces | High School

  Lesson Plan: Fading Away Mark as Favorite (17 Favorites)

  In this lesson students will explore photodegradation of color. First, students will view how fading of paint has affected Van Gogh’s great works of art and the efforts that are being taken to conserve these works. While exploring, students will actively engage in research to relate the fading process to redox reactions, X-Ray diffraction, solute-solvent interactions, and light/energy calculations. Students will then act as an Engineering Task Force and brainstorm to identify how photodegradation affects modern day objects and plan how to address their fading in an effort to market to the airliner Jetstar

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  Molecular Geometry, Molecular Structure, Lewis Structures | High School

  Lesson Plan: Investigating Real-World Applications of Molecular Geometry Mark as Favorite (9 Favorites)

  In this lesson, students use tools to predict the shapes of simple molecules and discuss factors that cause molecules to adopt certain shapes. These concepts are then applied to real-world examples of how geometry impacts the functions of important molecules.

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  Molecular Structure, Molecular Structure , Interdisciplinary, Chemical Change, Distillation, Renewable Energy, Enthalpy, Stoichiometry, Chemical Change, Combustion | High School

  Lesson Plan: Biofuels of the Future Mark as Favorite (11 Favorites)

  In this lesson students will explore the world of automobile alternative energy sources through the study of biofuels. They will design and create an e-book that illustrates and explains one of the provided topics or an original idea approved by the teacher.