It's About Time
Elements and Their Properties
How did ancient scientists classify elements? Answer this question and others as young chemists create a device to test the properties of various elements. They classify elements as metals or nonmetals, learn to differentiate between...
Curated OER
Discovering Elements
A periodic table of elements displays the elements in groups ordered by when they were discovered. Click-by-click, new elements are added, resulting in an almost up-to-date chart. In order to reinforce the idea that symbols are used in...
Curated OER
Anatomy of an Element
Learners discuss matter and atoms using this resource. First, they look at a website describing atoms. Then, they learn about the periodic table and discuss how it is organized. Finally, they create a comic strip to display their...
Curated OER
Selected Elements
This collection consists of a slide on each of the following unrelated, but fascinating elements: einsteinium, curium, radium, radon, nobelium, seaborgium, silicon, magnesium, and postassium. You will not find detailed information on the...
Virginia Department of Education
Atomic Structure: Elements
It's all relevant, really. Individuals use the scientific method to learn more about elements, atoms, and their placement on the periodic table. They conduct experiments using materials common in nature to explore how elements affect our...
NASA
Exploration of a Problem: Making Sense of the Elements
When given too much data to simply memorize, it helps to sort it into manageable groups. The second lesson plan in the six-part series of Cosmic Chemistry challenges groups of pupils to take a large amount of data and figure out how to...
Curated OER
Reading Chemical Formulas
Students interpret basic chemical formulas. When class begins, students interpret a "chemical formula" for fruit salad. After they interpret the recipe, students use the same strategies to identify chemical formulas. They evaluate the...
Curated OER
History of the Periodic Table
Students sort a group of manipulatives and then explain their organizational system to the class. They discuss the work of scientists trying to organize the elements into a system that made sense and the development of the periodic table.
Curated OER
An Ad for an Element
Students prepare an ad for an element, including properties and uses, in an attention getting format such as that used in the advertising business.
Science Geek
Atomic Structure
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) was formed in 1919 and was crucial for allowing scientists to discuss findings during the Cold War. A presentation offers an introduction to atomic structure including the...
Curated OER
Periodic Table of Elements
Beginning chemists examine a collection of elements and compounds as they are introduced to the periodic table. The lesson plan is not cohesive and does not provide detailed instructions on how to teach it. However, it does includes a...
Curated OER
Simple Chemical Equations
Eighth graders interpret the chemical symbols and shorthand used for molecules and equations. Through guided practice, 8th graders work to decipher and interpret the symbols for chemical equations. An opportunity for independent...
Curated OER
Chemical Element Interview
Pupils interview the chemical elements. They research information about their element, such as: stable isotopes, valence electrons, number of subatomic particles. They create a yearbook page for their element, and a format to present it.
It's About Time
Atoms with More Than One Electron
Provide young chemists with the ability to manipulate atoms and predict their results, in this sixth lesson. Pupils analyze energy patterns as they predict the amount of energy required to remove electrons from atoms. They compare trends...
Glynn County School System
Light, History, Gravity, Distance, Relativity, and Space-Time
Let the star's color be the guide! The color of a star indicates its temperature and its mass and distance affect the gravitational force. The lesson presentations address these concepts as well as how the theory of special relativity...
Curated OER
Advertise Your Family
In this periodic table worksheet, students create an advertisement for a chemical group or family they are assigned. They need to include topics such as are the elements solids, liquids or gases at room temperature, the history of the...
American Chemical Society
Isolation of Phytochrome
Why do soybean plants that are planted weeks apart in the spring mature simultaneously in the fall? Four independent activities cover the history of phytochrome research, scientist collaboration, the electromagnetic spectrum, and...
Liberty High School
Science Department Lab Report Format
Make sure your scientists are reporting their work effectively by providing them with a reference for their lab reports. The first few pages of this resource detail each element of a lab report, and the last few pages provide an example...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Chemical Signatures of Asteroid Impacts
What killed the dinosaurs and how do scientists know? Your high schoolers can examine these fascinating questions with a geochemical lens using the engaging 33-minute video, the accompanying data interpretation, and some thoughtful...
Curated OER
The Periodic Table
Students research an assigned element using the library, an encyclopedia, the Internet and other appropriate resources in order to write a research paper, a project, and an oral presentation.
Curated OER
Electromagnetic Spectrum/Spectroscopy
Learners examine the electromagnetic spectrum and demonstrate the elements within. In this investigative lesson students complete a demonstration and calculate the energy of a photon.
Curated OER
once and future MOON
Beyond the phases of the moon, this comprehensive lesson plan covers geologic history and geology. Amateur astronauts examine photos of the lunar landscape, experiment with the creation of craters, and delve into information about the...
Curated OER
Destination Outer Space
Students investigate space travel. In this space travel lesson students examine space exploration history, engineers and scientists involved in space exploration, and Newton's third law of motion. Students make rockets.
Curated OER
Arkansas State Rock
Here is a lesson plan which shows the value of a mineral called bauxite to Arkansas during the early 1900's. Learners relate the five themes of geography to the history of bauxite and aluminum production in Arkansas. For teachers of...