Discovering elements online

Students will work independently and in small groups to research assigned elements on the internet with sites given in advance. They will then contribute to a class database with their individual information. The database will then be made available for students to again work independently and in pairs to answer questions created from a class discussion to discover relationships about the elements.

A lesson plan for grade 8 Information Skills and Science

By Trish Loudermilt

Learn more

• Chemicool a Periodic Table site with properties of each element available
• Chemical Elements a Periodic Table site with properties of each element available

Related pages

• Periodic table database: These lessons are designed to help students use their computer skills to create their own database using teacher directions, and they also learn how to read the periodic table and understand what it means.
• What element would you be?: In this lesson plan, students write a one-page story relating their personalities to elements from the periodic table.
• The human atom: Students will act out the role of atoms by dressing up as the atoms of designated elements. They will wear costumes with balloons representing valence electrons. The “atoms” will gain or lose valence electrons in order to achieve chemical stability. The students must then identify the charges of the ions formed.

Related topics

• Learn more about chemistry, databases, elements, periodic table, science, and technology skills.

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Learning outcomes

The class will create a database of elements and develop a series of questions that can be answered and discover relationship by sorting and filtering the student created database. The database can be created using Microsoft Works 4.5 databases or a similar program (instructions for Microsoft Works 4.5).

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

2 weeks

Materials/resources

• Copy of the Periodic Table for each student.
• Worksheet (You could also use index cards to record the info for each of the database fields listed in Pre-activities) to be completed listing all the information that they need to find out about their assigned element(s).

Technology resources

• computer with internet access
• database and word processing software

Pre-activities

Time Needed:

1–2 weeks (depending on whether you have one or two classroom computers) of ninety-minute blocks for students to rotate through the independent computer use. Whole class time will be needed to explain the project, create questions, review how to sort and filter a database (use AverKey and TV presentation and the ISS instructions for databases) and follow-up with class discussion of what was discovered.

Grouping of Students:

Each student should have 2–3 elements to research so that most of the elements are included in the database. Some students may need to be grouped together depending on their academic needs. Pairing the students to sort and filter the database will give the students more confidence in remembering more of the skills learned about manipulating the information in a database.

Research Questions and Database Fields:

• Element
• Symbol
• Atomic number
• Atomic weight
• Number of neutrons
• Number of protons
• Number of electrons
• Density
• Group or classification
• States
• Melting point
• Boiling point
• Shells
• Color
• Uses
• Number of isotopes
• Discovered when and by whom

Activities

1. Assign elements to each student along with handout (database fields listed in Pre-Activities) on specific questions to answer. Explain how to use preset sites (favorites, bookmarks, or desktop shortcuts) to locate answers to the questions on the internet.
2. Assign computer times for each student during the ninety-minute block time to answer his or her questions. Limit computer times to 15–20 minutes for each student. If they do not finish, then you can roll them to the end of the list or they can use other sources. This forces them to use their time wisely. The chemicool and chemical elements sites should be bookmarked for easy and quick access. Students will need to use both sites to completely answer their questions.
3. The teacher or a capable student can setup and save the class database. Rotate students through their computer times again to key in their data relating to their element assignment. Order is not important as the database can be sorted at the end.
4. Once the database is complete, print and run off copies for each group of two students. During a class discussion, develop a set of ten questions that can be answered by sorting and filtering the element database. Using the AverKey, review how to sort and filter the database. (An example of a question might be: “Which elements with atomic weights of at least twenty-five are classified as metals and can also exist in the liquid state?” This would require at least one filter, possibly two or a sort after the filter.)
5. Again, rotate the students through the computer schedule in pairs and have them answer the questions developed in class by sorting and filtering the elements database.
6. End the project with a class discussion of the relationships shown from the sorting and filtering of elements within the database. Print out the results of the sorts and filters and make overhead transparencies to use during the discussion.

Assessment

The teacher should instruct students to maintain a folder of all handouts and worksheets related to the project. At the completion of the project, the papers should be organized into chronological order and turned in as one final work. A rubric or check sheet can be developed to objectively grade students for this project with emphasis on things such as:

• Directions Followed
• Work Completed on Time
• Cooperation with Others
• Neatness
• Correctness of Information Researched and Questions Answered

A final touch to the project could include having students write a 3–4 paragraph summary describing what they learned from the project on elements. The teacher should emphasize the same writing skills needed for satisfactory performance on the North Carolina Writing Test.

Supplemental information

Obviously this type of project requires pre-planning and organization, as does any good integrated project, whether computers are involved or not. The computer is to be considered a tool to use in completing this activity. Although required computer skills are being taught and reinforced, the “meat” of the project is the science curriculum. One of these projects a semester or even one every nine weeks is a goal that can be accomplished for each curriculum area within the classroom itself and with only one computer (two is even better—cuts the time in half). Once the project has been developed, you can use it every year with even less work in the pre-planning stage. However, remember to revisit your internet sites again in case the URL has changed or no longer exists. Also, remember that this project should be completed while other lessons are ongoing. Other activities should not stop while students are rotating through the computer schedule (it is not necessary for every student to be doing the same activity at the same time).

Comments

This lesson plan incorporating teacher selected websites is called teacher-control and monitoring of the internet. Do not allow students to do free searching unless it is within the confines of North Carolina WiseOwl or other resources which are known to be safe.