Beyond Benign
Sublimation
Ah, caffeine! What would some of us do without it? Teach your high school chemistry class the concept of sublimation as they complete a hands-on experiment to visualize the changes caffeine undergoes during heating and cooling....
Curated OER
Oils and Plastic
Peruse the properties of polymers with your materials engineers, chemistry aces, or emerging ecologists. The inquiries in this resource include puncturing polyethylene plastic bags, dissolving polystyrene cups, creating a polymer...
Curated OER
Sun, Spectra, and Stars
Get ready to spark interest in electromagnetic radiation! This resource shares nine indelible inquiries that you can choose from to ignite understanding of spectra and the relationship between light and heat. The assessments that follow...
Beyond Benign
Writing the Principles
What is the difference between chemistry and green chemistry? The first lesson of the 24-part green chemistry series introduces scholars to its 12 principles. The tendency is toward nontoxic materials and sustainability.
Curated OER
Matter Matters: Solids, Liquids and Gases
Scientists participate in a variety of hands-on experiments in this ten-day unit on the three states of matter. Lessons incorporate literature, a-v materials, and poetry to help young scholars differentiate between solids, liquids and...
Curated OER
What's the Matter?
Students explore the components of matter. They discover what matter is, the states of matter, and how heat and cold cause it to change states in an online format. In addition, they complete internet-based lessons, activities, and quizzes.
Curated OER
Melting, Freezing, and More!: Phase Transitions
Third graders listen to a talk on phase transitions and view three demonstrations. In this phases of matter lesson, 3rd graders complete a worksheet as they listen about phase transitions. They move through three demonstrations of phase...
Earth Day Network
Staying Green While Being Clean
Clean up the environment with a lesson that focuses on replacing hazardous cleaning supplies with green, environmentally-friendly products. Using a dirty patch of surface as a control area, kids clean other parts of various surfaces...
Curated OER
States of Matter Mini-Unit
Middle schoolers identify he phases of matter (solid, liquid, gas), and why they take place. They comprehend what a physical change is and what a chemical change is. Students know the difference between a Mixture and a Solution.
Curated OER
Types of Matter
Students analyze different types of matter according to its general and specific properties. They design an experiment to classify matter. Students are shown cornflakes and raisins. They are asked what type of substance is each...
Curated OER
Matter Jeopardy
Fourth graders explore science by participating in a Jeopardy style game. In this matter lesson, 4th graders define matter and identify the characteristics and properties of it. Students collaborate in two teams and utilize a SMART board...
Curated OER
Ready, Set, Let's Dough! It's a Matter of System
Young scholars explore physical sciences by participating in a class experiment. In this matter lesson plan, students identify the three forms of matter and their physical differences. Young scholars utilize cookie dough to create a play...
Curated OER
Air Is there
Students experiment to observe air and its mass. For this air lesson, students use the scientific method to complete experiments that demonstrate the properties of air. Students view a video as follow-up.
Curated OER
Properties of Magnetic Forces
Students explore what a magnetic force is and what kinds of objects are attracted to a magnet. They use a magnet to sort objects taht are and are not attracted to a magnet. Students then explain why the objects were or were not...
Virginia Department of Education
Heat Transfer and Heat Capacity
It's time to increase the heat! Young chemists demonstrate heat transfer and heat capacity in an activity-packed lab, showing the transitions between solid, liquid, and gaseous phases of materials. Individuals plot data as the...
Virginia Department of Education
Molar Volume of a Gas
What is a chemist's favorite plant? Stoichiome Tree! Scholars produce hydrogen gas by reacting magnesium with hydrochloric acid. Then they calculate the molar volume of the gas produced before answering assessment questions.
American Chemical Society
The Discovery of Fullerenes
Carbon is the most common element on earth, so the innovative discovery of a new type of carbon molecule won the 1996 Nobel Prize. In the ready-to-go lesson, scholars learn about C60 and how it has opened up the entire area of...
Curated OER
Matter: Three States of Matter
Students discover characteristics of each of the three states of matter: solid, liquid and gas.
Curated OER
Matter for Minors
Students use streaming videos, web sites, and hands on activities students to explore matter. They focus on how temperature affects matter and what the particles look like in the states of matter.
Curated OER
It's a Gas!
Students investigate gases and their properties by completing 4 activities. For this gases lesson plan, students perform activities to show that gases take up space, they diffuse, and that odors and vibrations pass through gases. They...
Curated OER
The Nature of Chemical Change: Acting Out an Example
Students identify the signs that a chemical reaction took place. In this chemistry lesson, students role play the movement of different molecules of matter. They classify matter according to their properties.
Curated OER
Gas Laws and Alka-Seltzer Rockets
Students investigate the Ideal Gas Law. In this three states of matter instructional activity, students create Alka-Seltzer rockets using film canisters. Students record observations and data according to the scientific method and...
Curated OER
Up and Atom
"Up and Atom" is a mini-unit introducing middle-schoolers to the wonders of elements. Participants draw atom models, examine the periodic table, compare samples of metals to nonmetals, identify unknown elements, and more! The beginning...
American Chemical Society
Evaporation
This is one in several lessons that explore the relationship between temperature and phase changes of water. After some discussion, elementary physical scientists place wet paper toweling on a hot and a room-temperature water bag...