States of Matter

Today we talked about the phases of matter and I broke the lesson up into 4 different activities using a variety of strategies.

Part 1 – Brief introduction to set the stage

I told the students to place their hands on the table and close their eyes.  I then asked them “Is the table moving?” Variety of answers.  I told them that the table is made up of billions of atoms that are vibrating, we just can’t feel it.  Atoms do not stay still, I mentioned absolute zero and how scientists think that atoms would stop moving at this extremely cold temperature. Last I checked, we got really close but have not reached absolute zero yet.  

Keeping their eyes closed, I ask them if they feel the air molecules hitting them right now.  Gasses move very quickly and are bouncing around the room, hitting each other, bumping into the wall, off the ceiling, off the floor, kind of like a pinball machine.  I also ask them to take a deep breath – the air is filling up their lungs.  I also mention that they are breathing the same air that the ancient Greeks and Australopithecus did (they just studied early man in History class).  All the matter on Earth has always been here and is constantly recycled.  The oxygen you are breathing right now was once part of a water molecule, or part of an animal, etc… They think its cool and gross at the same time, of course!

Part 2: BrainPOP movie on States of Matter.

I show the movie and paused it when it zoomed into the glass of water and showed the water molecules.  I ask the kids, “What do you notice about how the atoms are arranged?” We discuss it and I have them draw the atoms, in a color of their choice,  into their notes in the liquids box. Continue the movie.

Paused the movie again when it zoomed into the gas atoms up close.  ”What do you notice about how these are arranged compared to the liquid?”  Using a different color, they draw the gas atoms into the gas box.  Continue the movie.

Paused again when it zoomed into the solid atoms up close. “What do you notice about how these are arranged compared to the liquid and gas?” They came up with great observations, such as many more atoms, close together, not a lot of empty space between each, and they were neater – arranged almost in a pattern. Using a third color, we drew in the atoms for the solid.  Played the rest of the movie.

Part 3 – Notes – Jigsaw/read aloud

I assigned a paragraph to each group and gave them about 3 minutes to complete their assigned section.  Once they were done, each person in group 1 read a sentence out loud to the rest of the class. Student 1 read the 1st sentence, student 2, the next, and the group continued until the whole paragraph was done.  I used 3-4 students per group for this activity.

The other groups/students listened and filled in their notes.  We then moved to group 2 for the second paragraph, and so forth.  This worked really well.  Some of the kids noticed that it was exactly the same as the movie, which it was, I made a transcript and cut out important words and placed them in the word bank.

Part 4 – Closure using the matrix

Using the BrainPOP graphic organizer, we reviewed the main concepts that we learned today, making sure to fill it in completely and correctly.

Homework: cut ‘n paste vocabulary to review terms we discussed today.

Resources:

BrainPOP Movie: States of Matter

pg. 50 – BrainPOP: States of Matter Notes

pg. 51 – BrainPOP – States of Matter Graphic Organizer

pg. 52 – States of Matter Vocab

Lewis Structures/Electron Dot Diagrams

1. What is the formula for the Lewis Structure above?
2. What elements are represented?
3. How many of each?
4. How many electrons are drawn?
5. What type of bond does this molecule have?

Left Side:

For my lesson on drawing Lewis Structures, I made a booklet to follow along with my PowerPoint and classwork. On the first page of the booklet, I have fill in the blank notes and inside the booklet, I have elements #1-20 for the students to complete either independently or with a partner.

For this lesson, I model the first problem and we do the Lewis Structure for Carbon, going over the steps one at a time and explaining the process.

I then have them try Hydrogen on their own. We then go over the answer together. Depending on how comfortable they are, I have them do one more and then we go over the answer together. Then I give the students time (maybe 5-10 minutes tops) to work on the rest of the problems while I walk around and monitor/answer questions.

Once everyone is done with the practice problems, we go over the answers using the rest of the power point. The students can then work independently or with a partner to complete the rest of the elements inside the booklet.

SmartBoard: If you have a SmartBoard, you can pull up the pdf file and enlarge the view, that way students can come up to the board and draw in the electrons for the elements when you are going over the answers. The rest of the students can then self correct their work.

Just added: Another option is to slightly modify this SmartBoard file. Have the students drag the electrons into position around the corresponding element symbol.

Right Side:

I made a homework sheet for the students to practice finding the elements on the periodic table, writing/reading the element symbols, finding the group number, determining the number of valence electrons, and drawing the Lewis Structure.

Handouts:

• Notes: Front and Back of Booklet
• Classwork: Inside of the Booklet (Photocopy these two docs front/back then fold)
• Lewis Structures homework/practice
• PowerPoint for lesson

Answers: how did you do?

1. CCl4
2. C = Carbon, Cl = Chlorine
3. C = 1, Cl = 4
4. 32 electrons
5. Covalent, both are non-metals

Physical and Chemical Change Activity

Is Humpty Dumpty falling off the wall and cracking on the ground a physical or chemical change?

I love the Far Side Cartoon with Humpty Dumpty as a giant omelet in a diner, and the caption says something like “Humpty Dumpty’s final days”. Would that be a physical or chemical change?

I usually use the Humpty Dumpty analogy when I start talking about Physical and Chemical Changes.

This following activity is one that I used last year for the first time and it worked really well. The kids were so engaged and felt really satisfied when they figured it out. They will be able to use their Foldable as a resource for this activity.

Left Side:

To prepare this lesson, I printed out the activity cards on pages 2 & 3, laminated them, and cut them apart. I placed each set of cards in a zip-top bag, one per group of 2 students.

On their desks, I have the students place the “Physical Change” card to their left and the “Chemical Change” card to their right. Now they have to sort each card into the correct column. You can do one together to demonstrate the procedures. The kids continue to sort the cards until they have all 15 lined up in the correct columns. When they are done, they raise their hand to call me over and see if their cards are in the right place.

I walk over and when they ask if they have it right, I smile and say “Nope”. (Usually there are a few in the wrong spot, no one got it on the first try last year). So now they have to evaluate what they did and figure out what is in the right spot and what is not. I usually give the kids 2 or 3 tries without any hints from me. Then I give hints like “You have 3 in the wrong spot” or “Everything in your physical change column is correct so far.” (There may be 1 or 2 in the chemical change that need to be moved over.) Or “You have to switch one from each column”, but I won’t tell them which ones.

Once they have everything correct, I push/pile up the physical change card together and give them to one lab partner and tell them to write it in their lab journal. I push/pile up the chemical change cards together and give it to the other lab partner to write in his/her lab journal. Then I tell them to switch cards so they have everything written down in both journals. We keep it top secret so their nosy neighbors don’t see their answers! =)

I love seeing the lab partners talk about where each item goes and they get into some great discussions, they try to reason with their lab partner, they compromise, sometimes they argue, etc…

Right Side:

Students will answer analysis questions and write a conclusion.

Handout:

• Physical & Chemical Change Activity (pdf)
• Humpty Dumpty Image from Scholastic

Answers for Physical Change: cracking eggs, slicing bread, ice melting, glass breaking, boiling water, fresh lemonade, mowing the lawn.

Physical and Chemical Properties/Changes Foldable

Up to this point, in class we would have been focusing on properties of matter such as mass, volume, & density. Now we are ready to wrap up physical characteristics and go into chemical characteristics, & differentiate between physical and chemical changes.

 

 

For this activity, I used a 4 panel brochure template (Publisher) and turned it into a 4-door foldable. This will print out on 8.5 x 14 Legal paper. If you do use legal sized paper, the width of the foldable will be 7 inches and should fit in most notebooks.

 

This is a 4 page document: page 1 is the front (tabs) and back (glued down) of the foldable, page 2 is the inside layout, page 3 contains the cut outs that will go into the foldable, and page 4 is the teacher’s answer key.

Left Side:

Students will be given a blank foldable (photocopy 2 sided). Tell students to cut the tabs on the dotted guide lines, but not to fold yet, instead keep the paper flat and orientated correctly so when they do fold it, the words on the tabs are right side up.

Give each student a copy of page 3. The notes are not grouped together correctly so they will have to cut out each piece of information (follow dotted lines) and reassemble the notes into the correct boxes under the corresponding tabs. All the pieces will fit into the boxes. Tell the students not to glue anything down, just to do a dry run.

This is a good partnered activity, students will work together to piece the “puzzle” together. After everyone has had a chance to work through the activity, we will go over the answers as a class. Students will then glue the correct pieces in as we go over each section.

Once everything is in place, have the students fold it so that the tabs meet in the middle. Glue into notebook.

Right Side:

• Practice determining physical and chemical characteristics
• BrainPOP Movie: Property Changes fill in the blanks

Handouts:

• Foldable – 8.5 x 14 Legal Sized (pdf)
• Practice Page (pdf)

Chemistry Unit

I am working on the sequencing of my chemistry unit and trying to come up with some new ideas to use for my interactive notebook. Here is a list of topics that I am working on. If you have any great ideas to share, please feel free to leave a comment.

• Physical vs Chemical Changes
• States of Matter (Foldable for Solid, Liquid, Gas Notes?)
• Phase Changes
• Elements, Compounds, & Mixtures
• Atomic Theory (Foldable with Scientists and Atomic Models?)
• The Atom
• Periodic Table
• Bonding – Ionic & Covalent (Shutter Foldable?)
• Chemical Formulas
• Chemical Reactions
• Balancing Equations
• Conservation of Mass
• Acids and Bases (Cut ‘n Paste Venn Diagram)

BrainPOP has a great collection of movies for chemistry – I use just about all of these during my unit.