Students learn about the periodic table and how pervasive the elements are in our daily lives. After reviewing the table organization and facts about the first 20 elements, they play an element identification game. They also learn that engineers incorporate these elements into the design of new products and processes. Acting as computer and animation engineers, students creatively express their new knowledge by creating a superhero character based on of the elements they now know so well. They will then pair with another superhero and create a dynamic duo out of the two elements, which will represent a molecule.

This site from the General Chemistry Online of the Frostburg State University provides a review of the history of atomic theory, the discovery of the electron, and the discovery of the nucleus. Details on weighing atoms, ion charges, isotopes, and counting particles.

Grades 3-4. Students are introduced to the idea of electrical energy. They learn about the relationships between charge, voltage, current and resistance. They discover that electrical energy is the form of energy that powers most of their household appliances and toys. In the associated activities, students learn how a circuit works and test materials to see if they conduct electricity. Building upon a general understanding of electrical energy, they design their own potato power experiment. In two literacy activities, students learn about the electrical power grid and blackouts.

Students use gumdrops and toothpicks to make lithium atom models. Using these models, they investigate the makeup of atoms, including their relative size. Students are then asked to form molecules out of atoms, much in the same way they constructed atoms out of the particles that atoms are made of. Students also practice adding and subtracting electrons from an atom and determining the overall charges on atoms.

This lab exercise exposes students to a potentially new alternative energy source hydrogen gas. Student teams are given a hydrogen generator and an oxygen generator. They balance the chemical equation for the combustion of hydrogen gas in the presence of oxygen. Then they analyze what the equation really means. Two hypotheses are given, based on what one might predict upon analyzing the chemical equation. Once students have thought about the process, they are walked through the experiment and shown how to collect the gas in different ratios. By trial and error, students determine the ideal combustion ratio. For both volume of explosion and kick generated by explosion, they qualitatively record results on a 0-4 scale. Then, students evaluate their collected results to see if the hypotheses were correct and how their results match the theoretical equation. Students learn that while hydrogen will most commonly be used for fuel cells (no combustion situation), it has been used in rocket engines (for which a tremendous combustion occurs).

To better understand electricity, students investigate the properties of materials based on their ability to dispel static electricity. They complete a lab worksheet, collect experimental data, and draw conclusions based on their observations and understanding of electricity. The activity provides hands-on learning experience to safely explore the concept of static electricity, learning what static electricity is and which materials best hold static charge. Students learn to identify materials that hold static charge as insulators and materials that dispel charge as conductors. The class applies the results from their material tests to real-world engineering by identifying the best of the given materials for moving current in a solar panel.

Students act as engineers to apply what they know about how circuits work in electrical/motorized devices to design their own battery-operated model motor vehicles with specific paramaters. They calculate the work done by the vehicles and the power produced by their motor systems.

This site has a definition and properties of Leptons, the "Basic building blocks of matter." There are links to table of properties and more information.

Students are introduced to circuits through a teacher demonstration using a set of Christmas lights. Then students groups build simple circuits using batteries, wires and light bulbs. They examine how electricity is conducted through a light bulb using a battery as a power source. Students also observe the differences between series and parallel circuits by building each type.

The Pauli Exclusion Principle requires that all electrons in an atom have unique energy levels.

Through three lessons and their four associated activities, students are introduced to concepts related to mixtures and solutions. Students consider how mixtures and solutions and atoms and molecules can influence new technologies developed by engineers. To begin, students explore the fundamentals of atoms and their structures. The building blocks of matter (protons, electrons, neutrons) are covered in detail. The next lesson examines the properties of elements and the periodic table one method of organization for the elements. The concepts of physical and chemical properties are also reviewed. Finally, the last lesson introduces the properties of mixtures and solutions. A comparison of different mixtures and solutions, their properties and their separation qualities are explored.

Learn about the Bohr model of the atom where the electrons exist in energy levels or shells. [2:50]

This resource presents a biography of Bohr, including many personal tidbits, as well as a substantial treatment of his scientific work. Several interesting quotes by and about Bohr are included. It also links to several other sources.

Read about Linus Carl Pauling, the winner of the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize. This website is organized into the following sections: "Presentation Speech," "Biography," "Nobel Lecture," "Other Resources," and "The Nobel Chemistry Prize 1954."

The Nobel Foundation provides this site about Niels Bohr's contributions to the world of physics, specifically his "investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them." This biography includes information on his education and personal life, as well.

This Nobel E-Museum website commemorates the work of Philipp von Lenard and his Nobel prize achievement. This detailed resource includes a biography, Lenard's Nobel Lecture, and the "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1905 Presentation Speech."

The Nobel Physics Chairman made this speech when presenting the Prize to Chadwick. It clearly explains the importance and depth of Chadwick's work. Site by Nobel e-Museum.

Light up your love with paper circuits this Valentine’s Day—no soldering required! Create a sure-to-impress flashing birthday card or design a light-up Christmas card—all with paper circuits! In this activity, students are guided through the process to create simple paper circuitry using only copper tape, a coin cell battery, a light-emitting diode (LED) and small electronic components such as a LilyPad Button Board. Making light-up greeting cards with paper circuitry is great way to teach the basics of how circuits function while giving students an outlet to express their artistic creativity.

Look inside a resistor to see how it works. Increase the battery voltage to make more electrons flow through the resistor. Increase the resistance to block the flow of electrons. Watch the current and resistor temperature change. Java required.

Look inside a battery to see how it works. Select the battery voltage and little stick figures move charges from one end of the battery to the other. A voltmeter tells you the resulting battery voltage. Java required.