Time Frame
1 class periods of 45 minutes each
Summary
These "mini-activities" use literacy to support Standard 1, Objective 1.
Materials
- Pencil
- paper
- computer with Internet access (optional)
- 2.5 meters adding machine tape
- colored pencils
- textbooks
- metersticks
Instructional Procedures
Activity 1: (Recognize that atoms are too small to see)
- Ask students to write riddles based on the fact that atoms are too small to see. The answer to the riddle should be "atom".
- Require that students use factual information from their text to support the riddle. Ex. What is invisible, but all around us? Answer: atoms
- Ask students to share their work in a group and then read the riddles they would like to share with the class.
Activity 2: (Relate atoms to molecules)
- As students to write analogies that illustrate how atoms are related to molecules. Explain that an analogy is a way to compare two processes by using a format "A ________ is to __________ as a ___________ is to ____________.
- Ex. An atom is to a molecule as a cell is to an organ.
- Have students work in pairs to review the analogies and then write them on an overhead to share with the class.
- Have the class read the analogies from the overhead and make sure that they are all accurate.
Activity 3: (Describe the limitations of using models to represent atoms)
- Ask students to choose a model of something they are familiar with (globe, car, doll, toy) Have them list 3 ways the model is accurate and 3 ways it is inaccurate.
- Have students use their textbooks to find characteristics of our current model of the atom and list three ways the model is accurate and inaccurate.
- Ask students to write a short paragraph describing what a perfect model of the atom would look like.
Activity 4: (lnvestigate and report how our knowledge of the structure of matter has been developed over time.)
Materials: 2.5 meters adding machine tape, colored pencils, textbooks, metersticks
- Tell student that they will be creating a time line to show the development of our understanding of the structure of atom.
- Ask students to research the development of atomic theory and write down the development and the year in which they occurred.
- Give students the metersticks and adding machine tape and tell them to divide the tape into enough years to get their information on with the same distance between each year.
- On the correct location of the meterstick, have students draw the model, write the name or names of the scientists that proposed the model and another interesting fact.
- Display the tapes in the room and ask students to grade them based on the following:
- information on the tape is accurate scientifically
- the time tape is colorful and neat
- the tape has been correctly scaled
Bibliography
Lesson Design by Jordan School District Teachers and Staff.
Created: 09/29/2014
Updated: 02/04/2018
3728