Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Evidence Revealing the Composition of the Atom

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Investigators use indirect evidence to guess what is occupying a sealed box. You could also use a set of plastic Easter eggs to encase the unknown items. Another terrific activity involves having students drop a pencil on a sheet of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Degradation and Weathering of Polymeric Materials

For Teachers 11th - Higher Ed
Students investigate issues of degradation and weathering of polymeric materials during their useful life. They evaluate photodegradable plastics and their viability as an environmental solution for litter and investigate the qualitative...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water and Polymers

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students conduct qualitative and quantitative investigations based on the interaction between water and various polymers. They determine the percent moisture contained in various plastics along with a qualitative procedure to determine...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Study of Molecular Orientation by Linear Dimension Change of Polymeric Films

For Teachers 10th - 11th
Students investigate the linear dimension change of heated plastic film and relate the results to processing and service use of the materials. They calculate percent change in dimension as related to anisotropy and molecular reorientation.
Lesson Plan
Cornell University

Renewable Resins and Composites

For Students 9th - 12th
Merge chemistry with environmental science to study biodegradable materials. An engaging activity allows learners to experiment with different resin concentrations and composites. Through experimental tests, scholars test their creations...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

# 15 A Search for Automated Plastics Recycling Separation

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers are challenged to investigate the physical and chemical properties of plastics and use them to design a system that could be used to separate them. 1st year chemistry students use density for separation, high schoolers...
Lesson Plan
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network

Synthesis and Characterization of CdSe Quantum Dots

For Teachers 10th - Higher Ed
Does the size of a sample change the physical properties of that substance? It turns out it can! Young scientists combine physics and chemistry to synthesize CdSe quantum dots and record their color properties. Learners should...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Science: Criminalistics - A New Look at Crime

For Teachers K - 12th
Students examine the world of forensic science, focusing on fingerprint analysis. In the lesson plan, they implement a method by which fingerprints of class members are categorized and identified. Elementary students study...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Slime and Intermolecular Attractions

For Teachers 10th - Higher Ed
Students explore the strength of intermolecular attractions. They make slime and compare the difference in the physical properties of sheet and powdered polyvinyl alcohol with polyvinyl acetate.
Lesson Plan
Cornell University

Electroplating

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Silver pennies and copper nickels are made possible by applying some chemistry. Learners use electrolysis to coat a penny with zinc sulfate and a nickel with copper sulfate. Their investigation builds an understanding of electroplating...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Large is a Mole of M&M's

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students calculate whether or not a mole of M&M's fill their high school. They practice factor-labeling, define a mole, and calculate the number of cubic feet per mole of M&M's. To answer the question they measure and calculate...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Glurch II

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students make glurch using materials provided. In this chemistry lesson, students identify the physical properties of glurch. They compare its properties to commercially prepared ones.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Laboratory: Micro Rockets

For Teachers 9th - 12th
If you know how to employ the exothermic reaction between hydrogen gas and oxygen gas to make a miniature rocket, then this worksheet is a fabulous lab sheet for your chemistry charges. First, they observe a spark in pure oxygen and one...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bouncing Balls

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students create a polymer ball in the lab. In this chemistry lesson, students identify the different properties of the polymer they created. They explain what type of chemical reaction took place.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Simple Tensile Testing of Polymeric Films and Sheeting

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Chemistry classes pretend to be consultants to a grocery story trying to decide what polymer to use for therir new non-paper bags. They prepare tensile bars and use them to test plastic film samples for strength and stretchability. Both...
Lesson Plan
University of California

Hot! Hot! Hot!

For Teachers 7th - 10th Standards
Calories are not tiny creatures that sew your clothes tighter every night, but what are they? A science lesson, presented at multiple levels, has learners experiment with heat, heat transfer, and graph the function over time....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

An Approach to Chemistry via the Analysis of Art Objects: The Scientific Method, Laboratory Safety, Light and Color Theory

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students create a painting that clearly exemplifies the use of primary pigments to make secondary pigments. They demonstrate the distinction between value and saturation. They explain the affect of adjacent colors on each other and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dietary Supplements and the Chemistry of Life

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students study the effects of dietary supplements on bodily functions.  In this health lesson students calculate their caloric needs and research dietary supplements. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Chemistry of Ceramics

For Teachers 3rd - 10th
Students compare the characteristics of a fired porcelain sculpture to the clay used to create it. They discuss the physical and chemical changes that occur in the clay as it is heated and then create their own clay sculpture. This...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Chemistry of Ceramics

For Teachers K - 12th
Students make ceramic sculptures to understand how clay works. In this sculpture lesson, students learn about porcelain sculptures to understand how heat can turn clay into a hard ceramic surface. They then experiment with clay to make...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Chemistry is pHun

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate the pH of solutions and they learn how to use different types of indicators. In this pH lesson plan, students test various solutions with pH paper and determine if they are acidic, basic or neutral. They also test...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Straw Chromatography

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students separate food coloring using liquid chromatography. In this chemistry lesson, students explain the effects of different solvents on the rate of separation.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

From Polymers to Bioplastics: Looking Toward Finding Renewable Resources

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students investigate the properties of polymers. In this chemistry lesson, students explain the importance of energy sources. They produce a bioplastic from the lab and evaluate its structural integrity.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Oh - The Bonds of Matter!

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders identify the types of bonds elements form. In this chemistry instructional activity, 8th graders represent valence electrons with dot structures. They draw and label different atoms.

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