Summary

In this activity, students will watch a video and answer questions about acids and bases.They will learn about characteristics of acids and bases, the pH scale, and the role of acids in biochemistry.

Grade Level

Middle School, High School

NGSS Alignment

This activity will help prepare your students to meet the performance expectations in the following standards: 

• HS-PS1-2: Construct and revise an explanation for the outcome of a simple chemical reaction based on the outermost electron states of atoms, trends in the periodic table, and knowledge of the patterns of chemical properties.
• Scientific and Engineering Practices:
  • Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Objectives

By the end of this activity, students should be able to:

• Determine what makes some acids safe to eat and others dangerous.
• Define acids, bases, pH, and neutralization reactions.
• Learn about the role of acids in biochemistry.

Chemistry Topics

This activity supports students’ understanding of:

• pH
• Acid/base theories
• History of Chemistry
• Strong vs. weak acids/bases
• Acid base reactions

Time

Teacher Preparation: minimal
Lesson: 10 minutes

Materials

• What Are Acids & Bases? Video
• Student handout
• Computer and projector with sound and internet access

Safety

• No specific safety precautions need to be observed for this activity.

Teacher Notes

• The “What Are Acids and Bases?” video is part of the ACS video series Chemistry Basics.
• The running time of this video is about three minutes.It goes through information quickly, so you may want to pause the video at certain points or play the video through twice.
• This video is intended for students to watch, and for teachers to integrate into their curriculum.
• The student questions are presented in sequential order in the video.
• An answer key has also been provided for teacher reference.