Chemistry Unit Study

Everything around you is made of chemicals: the air you breathe, the water you drink, the pencil in your hand, and even you. Chemistry is the study of what things are made of and how they change. When a cake bakes, a nail rusts, or a fizzy tablet bubbles in water, chemistry is at work. All matter is built from tiny particles called atoms, and there are only about 118 kinds of atoms, called elements, that make up everything in the universe.

This Chemistry Unit Study covers atoms and molecules, the periodic table, solids, liquids, and gases, mixtures and solutions, acids and bases, and chemical changes. Make a red cabbage pH tester, grow crystals, shake up homemade butter, build molecules from marshmallows and toothpicks, learn lab safety, and play Elements Rummy. Experiments, books, videos, field trips, lapbook ideas, and homemade games work for every age, from kitchen chemistry for little ones to high school lab reports.

Learning Objectives

• Explain that all matter is made of atoms, and that atoms join together to make molecules
• Name the parts of an atom: protons, neutrons, and electrons
• Read the periodic table and find an element’s name, symbol, and atomic number
• Describe the three common states of matter and how matter changes from one state to another
• Tell the difference between a physical change and a chemical change
• Tell the difference between a mixture and a solution, and separate a simple mixture
• Test common household liquids to find out if they are acids or bases
• Follow lab safety rules and write up an experiment using the scientific method
• Learn about famous chemists and their discoveries

Chemistry Facts

• An atom is so small that millions of them could fit across the period at the end of this sentence.
• Every element has a one- or two-letter symbol. Some come from Latin names: gold is Au (from aurum), iron is Fe (from ferrum), and sodium is Na (from natrium).
• The atomic number tells how many protons an atom has. Hydrogen has 1, so it is number 1 on the periodic table.
• Hydrogen is the most common element in the universe. Oxygen is the most common element in the Earth’s crust and in the human body.
• Water is H₂O: two hydrogen atoms joined to one oxygen atom.
• Table salt is made of sodium, a metal that bursts into flame in water, and chlorine, a poisonous gas. Together they make something we sprinkle on our food.
• Water is the only common substance found naturally on Earth as a solid, a liquid, and a gas.
• The pH scale runs from 0 to 14. Below 7 is an acid (lemon juice, vinegar), 7 is neutral (pure water), and above 7 is a base (baking soda, soap).
• Rust is a chemical change. Iron joins with oxygen from the air to make something new.
• Diamonds and pencil “lead” (graphite) are both made of pure carbon. The atoms are just arranged differently.

Famous Chemists

Choose one to research and write a short biography:

• Robert Boyle, often called the father of modern chemistry
• Antoine Lavoisier, who named oxygen and hydrogen and showed that matter is not lost in a chemical reaction
• John Dalton, who explained that everything is made of atoms
• Michael Faraday, who gave famous science lectures for children
• Dmitri Mendeleev, who made the first periodic table and left gaps for elements not yet discovered
• Louis Pasteur, who showed that germs cause spoiling and invented pasteurization
• Marie Curie, the first person to win two Nobel Prizes
• George Washington Carver, who found hundreds of uses for peanuts and sweet potatoes
• Percy Julian, who made medicines from soybeans
• Linus Pauling, who studied how atoms bond together

Timeline

• ReadWriteThink Timeline Creator

Events to add to your timeline:

• About 400 BC: The Greek thinker Democritus says everything is made of tiny pieces he calls atoms
• Middle Ages: Alchemists try to turn lead into gold and invent lab tools still used today
• 1661: Robert Boyle publishes The Sceptical Chymist
• 1774: Joseph Priestley discovers oxygen
• 1789: Antoine Lavoisier writes the first modern list of elements
• 1803: John Dalton explains his atomic theory
• 1860: Michael Faraday gives his Christmas lectures on the chemistry of a candle
• 1869: Dmitri Mendeleev creates the periodic table
• 1898: Marie and Pierre Curie discover polonium and radium
• 1911: Ernest Rutherford discovers the nucleus of the atom
• 1935: Nylon is invented
• 1954: Linus Pauling wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
• 2016: The last four elements needed to fill the seventh row of the periodic table are named

Vocabulary

acid	compound	gas	neutron
atom	crystal	indicator	periodic table
atomic number	dissolve	liquid	proton
base	electron	mixture	reaction
chemical change	element	molecule	solid
chemist	evaporate	matter	solution

• Copy each word and its definition onto a sheet of paper for your portfolio.
• Make flash cards with the word on the front, then have the kids hand write the definition in their own words on the back.
• Look up words with WordWeb, free downloadable software, or the online Dictionary.com.

Book Resources

Picture Books and Younger Readers

• What Is the World Made Of? All About Solids, Liquids, and Gases by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
• What’s the Matter in Mr. Whiskers’ Room? by Michael Elsohn Ross
• The Magic School Bus Gets Baked in a Cake by Linda Beech
• Chemistry for Every Kid by Janice VanCleave
• Basher Science: The Periodic Table by Adrian Dingle and Simon Basher

Older Students

• The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe by Theodore Gray
• The Mystery of the Periodic Table by Benjamin Wiker
• Marie Curie and Radioactivity by Connie Colwell Miller (Graphic Library)
• The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean (high school)
• Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood by Oliver Sacks (high school)

Free Books at Project Gutenberg

• The Chemical History of a Candle by Michael Faraday: His lectures for children, still fun to read aloud while you watch a candle burn.

Poetry and Music

• Learn a periodic table song to memorize the elements. Many free versions are on YouTube.
• Make up a lab safety song to a tune you already know, like “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”
• Write an acrostic poem using the name of an element.
• Make music with chemistry: fill glass bottles with different amounts of colored water and tap them with a spoon.

Videos

• The Magic School Bus: “Gets Baked in a Cake” and “Meets Molly Cule”
• Bill Nye the Science Guy: “Chemical Reactions,” “Atoms,” and “Phases of Matter”
• Crash Course Chemistry: Free short videos on YouTube for high school.
• Madame Curie (1943)

Activities

Lab Safety First

• Make a lab safety poster together before you start: wear goggles, tie back long hair, never taste anything unless an adult says it is food, wash your hands, and clean up.
• Set up a lab notebook. For each experiment, write the question, your guess (hypothesis), what you used, what you did, what happened, and what you learned.

Experiments

• Red cabbage pH tester: Chop red cabbage, cover with hot water, let it sit, and strain out the purple juice. Add a spoonful to vinegar, lemon juice, baking soda water, soapy water, and plain water. Acids turn it pink and bases turn it green or blue.
• Baking soda volcano: Mix baking soda and vinegar and watch the gas (carbon dioxide) bubble out. Try catching the gas in a balloon stretched over a bottle.
• Grow crystals: Stir as much salt, sugar, or Epsom salt as will dissolve into hot water, pour it into a jar, hang a string in it, and watch crystals grow over a week.
• States of matter: Watch an ice cube melt on a plate, then let the water evaporate. Talk about where the water went.
• Separate a mixture: Mix sand, salt, and paper clips. Use a magnet to pull out the paper clips, then add water to dissolve the salt, pour off the water through a coffee filter, and let it evaporate to get the salt back.
• Rusting race: Put steel wool or nails in plain water, salt water, vinegar, and a dry cup. Check each day to see which rusts first.
• Penny shine: Soak dull pennies in vinegar and salt, then rinse. Leave one in the cup and see what color it turns.
• Density tower: Pour honey, dish soap, water with food coloring, and vegetable oil slowly into a tall glass and watch them stack in layers.
• Invisible ink: Write with lemon juice on white paper. When it dries, an adult holds it near a light bulb or warm iron to make the writing appear.
• Fizzy race: Drop an antacid tablet into cold water and another into hot water. Which fizzes out first? Try a whole tablet against a crushed one.
• Candle chemistry: Read part of Faraday’s Chemical History of a Candle and watch a candle burn. Place a glass jar over it and time how long the flame lasts. (Adults handle the flame.)

Molecule Models

• Build molecules from mini marshmallows or gumdrops and toothpicks. Use one color for each element: water (H₂O), carbon dioxide (CO₂), and methane (CH₄).
• Draw an atom: Make a nucleus from dots for protons and neutrons, and draw circles around it for the electron shells.

Writing Prompts

• You are a water molecule. Write about your trip from the ocean to a cloud and back down as rain.
• If you discovered a new element, what would you name it and what could it do?
• Write a lab report for your favorite experiment from this unit.

Recipes

Cooking is kitchen chemistry. Talk about which changes are physical (melting, freezing) and which are chemical (baking, browning).

• Shake-a-jar butter: Fill a clean jar halfway with heavy cream, close the lid tight, and take turns shaking until a lump of butter forms. Pour off the buttermilk and taste both. Cream has vitamin A for healthy eyes and skin.
• Ice cream in a bag: Put milk, a little sugar, and vanilla in a small zipper bag. Put that bag inside a bigger bag with ice and rock salt, and shake. The salt makes the ice colder so the milk freezes. Milk has calcium for strong bones and teeth.
• Pancake bubbles: Make pancakes with baking soda and buttermilk and watch the bubbles form as the acid and base react. Eggs in the batter add protein for growing muscles.
• Rock candy: Use the crystal-growing steps above with sugar water and a clean wooden skewer for a treat you can eat.
• Cookie chemistry: Bake cookies and talk about the changes in the oven: butter melts, baking soda makes gas bubbles, and the sugar browns.

Field Trips

• A science museum or science center with hands-on chemistry exhibits or live demonstrations.
• A college chemistry department open house or science day.
• A water treatment plant, to see how water is cleaned and tested.
• A bakery or candy maker, to see kitchen chemistry on a big scale.
• A pharmacy: Ask the pharmacist how medicines are made and measured.
• A pool: Ask how the staff test and balance the pool water.

Art and Craft Ideas

• Coffee filter chromatography: Draw a thick dot with a washable marker near the bottom of a coffee filter strip, stand it in a little water, and watch the ink separate into colors.
• Milk swirl art: Pour milk in a plate, add drops of food coloring, and touch the middle with a cotton swab dipped in dish soap.
• Salt painting: Draw with glue, sprinkle with salt, and touch the salt with watercolor paint to see it spread.
• Periodic table poster: Make your own giant periodic table, with each family member drawing a few element squares.
• Element trading cards: Make a card for each element with its symbol, number, and a picture of something it is used for.

Information and General Resources

• PhET Interactive Simulations: Choose Chemistry for free online models of atoms, molecules, states of matter, and pH.
• Ptable: An interactive periodic table.
• Royal Society of Chemistry Periodic Table
• Science Buddies Chemistry Project Ideas
• Wikipedia: Chemistry

Lapbook Ideas

• Parts of an Atom: A labeled drawing with protons, neutrons, and electrons.
• States of Matter Flap Book: Solid, liquid, and gas, with examples under each flap.
• Physical or Chemical Change Sort: A pocket of picture cards to sort into two envelopes.
• pH Scale Strip: Color it with the results from your red cabbage tester.
• Element Mini Book: One page for each of your favorite elements.
• Famous Chemists Mini Book
• Lab Safety Rules Pocket
• Timeline: Accordion fold with the dates above.
• Vocabulary Pocket: Flash cards for the vocabulary words.

More Game Ideas

• Element bingo: Fill bingo cards with element symbols. Call out the names and players cover the matching symbol.
• Solid, liquid, or gas: Call out a thing (milk, steam, a rock, air) and players freeze for solid, wiggle for liquid, or float around the room for gas.
• Periodic table path: Draw a board game path on a file folder where each square is an element. Land on a square and name the symbol to stay there.
• Printable Board Games: Blank boards and parts for making your own games.

Chemistry Card Game: Elements Rummy

Make a deck of 40 cards from index cards or cut-up cereal boxes. Choose 10 elements and make 4 cards for each one: the element name, its symbol, its atomic number, and one thing it is used for.

• Hydrogen: H, 1. Fuel for rockets and part of water.
• Helium: He, 2. Makes balloons float.
• Carbon: C, 6. Pencil lead and diamonds.
• Nitrogen: N, 7. Most of the air we breathe.
• Oxygen: O, 8. What we need to breathe.
• Sodium: Na, 11. Half of table salt.
• Aluminum: Al, 13. Soda cans and foil.
• Iron: Fe, 26. Nails, steel, and our blood.
• Copper: Cu, 29. Electric wires and pennies.
• Gold: Au, 79. Jewelry and coins.

How to play:

• Deal 7 cards to each player. Put the rest face down in a pile and turn the top card face up to start a discard pile.
• On your turn, draw one card from either pile, then discard one card.
• When you collect all 4 cards for one element, lay them down and find it on the periodic table.
• The first player to lay down two complete elements wins.

Older students can add more elements to make the deck bigger. These cards also work with your homemade periodic table path game and file folder games. Players draw a card and name the symbol or atomic number before they move.

More GeoSafari Card Ideas

• Match element names to their symbols.
• Match timeline events to their dates.
• Acid, base, or neutral cards for household items.
• Fill-in-the-blank cards about famous chemists.

Worksheets

Evaluation Ideas

• Have the student keep a lab notebook and write up at least five experiments from this unit.
• Give the student a blank periodic table to fill in the first 20 elements.
• Have the student put on a chemistry demonstration for the family and explain what is happening.

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