Chemistry

Lesson plans on the web

Frosty the Snowman meets his demise: An analogy to carbon dating

In this Science NetLinks lesson, students will be asked to consider the case of when Frosty the Snowman met began to melt. The exercise they will go through of working backwards from measurements to age should help them understand how scientists use carbon dating to try to determine the age of fossils and other materials. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Science)

Provider: American Association for the Advancement of Science

Radioactive decay: A sweet simulation of half-life

This Science NetLinks lesson is the second lesson in a three-lesson series about isotopes, radioactive decay, and the nucleus. Students are asked to simulate radioactive decay by pouring small candies and counting which candies fall with their manufacturer's mark down or up. Predicting and successively counting the number of remaining “mark-side up” candies should help students understand about the rates of decay. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Science)

Provider: American Association for the Advancement of Science

Splitting the atom

The purpose of this lesson is to use the internet to research the history of the splitting of the atom and to use that research to make a presentation on an aspect of that topic. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Science)

Provider: American Association for the Advancement of Science