The Office of K-8 Science in the Education Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS) has just released a new free middle school science resource at www.middleschoolchemistry.com. It is a completely free source of activity-based lesson plans for teaching basic chemistry concepts at the middle school level. The lessons cover all the main concepts in middle school chemistry so any part of a lesson or the entire lesson can be used on its own or in conjunction with the curriculum the teacher is already using. Each lesson also contains integrated animations and video that a teacher can use to help explain student observations on the molecular level. Online professional development will also be available to introduce and familiarize teachers with the demonstrations, activities, and chemistry content in the site.
In the Middle School Chemistry Project an instructor shows students how to setup an experiment to identify the identity of a liquid unknown…
What happens when solids, liquids, and gases are heated and cooled? Why is one substance more or less dense than another? What causes certain substances to dissolve in water? What happens when a chemical reaction takes place?
These questions and many more are explored in Middle School Chemistry, a resource of guided, inquiry-based lesson plans that covers basic chemistry concepts along with the process of scientific investigation.
The book helps students:
- Ask scientific questions and investigate them
- Design and conduct experiments
- Understand their observations on the molecular level Record and communicate results.
For teachers, Middle School Chemistry includes:
- Comprehensive 5-E lesson plans
- Detailed procedures for activities
- Science background for teachers
- Molecular model illustrations and animations
- Student activity sheets and student reading
You can download the entire book for free in PDF format.