Many scientists consider potassium evil. The enchantingly explosive video demonstrates just some of the dangers of this element. It covers the basic facts, common reactions, and safety considerations when working with potassium. The video is the 19th in a series of 118 about chemical elements.

Concepts

potassium, chemical elements, the periodic table

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Relate the potassium in foods to the highly reactive potassium shown in the video
• Discuss why the chemical symbol for potassium is K

Classroom Considerations

• Relies on prior knowledge of chemical reactions

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• Includes closed captioning in six languages for ELLs
• Demonstrates experiments that cannot be safely completed in a school

Cons

• None

Common Core

SL.9-10.2 SL.11-12.2 RST.9-10.4 RST.11-12.4