About 18 percent of the human body is carbon, yet carbon found in its pure form in nature forms graphite and diamonds, which are nonliving things. The narrator explores the word organic, explaining how its meaning in science has changed over time, from anything with carbon in it to asking if it's found in living things or not. The video does not establish a true definition — it all depends who you ask!

Concepts

organic chemistry, carbon, chemical compounds

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Great video to introduce carbon or organic chemistry and spark discussion
• At the end of a unit on organic chemistry, show the video and have pupils write their own definitions of organic with justification

Classroom Considerations

• The narrator speaks quickly; turning on closed captioning helps all learners follow along

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• Intriguing video that brings up interesting points about carbon and organic compounds
• Video is less than five minutes, making it easy to incorporate into a lesson

Cons

• None

Common Core

RST.9-10.2