Metals and Nonmetals

How can one easily classify metals, nonmetals, and metalloids? Pupils answer this question as they experiment with unknown substances and perform tests on conductivity, brittleness, and malleability to determine...

Should you trust the water you drink every day? The hands-on activity has scholars test water from different sources for contaminants. Pupils perform chemical testing and make conclusions about pH, hardness, iron, chlorine, lead,...

Is assembling the periodic table as simple as Tetris? Scholars arrange colored cards into a logical order and then make connections to the arrangement of the periodic table. Hands-on activities include adding trend arrows and analyzing...

Young chemists perform an experiment to determine if a compound is iron (II) chloride or iron (III) chloride. Then they determine the formula, balance the equation, and answer analysis questions. 

Angry Birds prepared them, but now pupils must prove their skills with projectiles! Scholars test different variables to determine which ones impact the distance the projectile flies. The experiment provides connections to kinetic and...

Engineer an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to study concepts of physics. Using household materials, collaborative groups design and build an AUV and then test Newton's Laws of Motion as they apply them in underwater environments...

Metals offer unique properties thanks to the structure of their valence electrons. The Socratica chemistry playlist includes this video explaining what a metal is and the properties of metals. It focuses on their structures, features,...

Discover how science is ready to protect the world against nuclear explosions. An interesting lesson describes how science monitors the world for evidence of nuclear explosions. By using technology to detect waves, it is possible to...

Scientists identify elements by the color of flame they produce because each element is defined by exactly one line on the emission spectrum. By completing a series of puzzles, scholars reinforce their knowledge of the results of flame...

In a friendly, casual conversation on the beach, two animated teens discuss the periodic table. Assign this video to be viewed at home by physical science fans. After viewing, they can write definitions for key vocabulary terms and take...