September 27, 2011
Chapter 4-The Periodic Table
We had three great Chapter Challenges to make the periodic table a little more fun!
#6 Chef Surprise-Rebecca
The first chapter challenge was done by Rebecca. She got the card Chef Surprise. She was required to model something from the chapter using food. She had us create an oxygen and hydrogen atom, like they are on the periodic table, on a chocolate chip cookie and a piece of chocolate. The materials that she used were icing, 1 cookie per person, 1 piece of chocolate per person, and aluminum foil. First we took a tube of icing and the cookie. Since we were duplicating oxygen, we put its atomic number, 8, on the top, its symbol, O, in the middle, and its state of matter at room temperature, gas, on the side using a balloon to represent that.
Next we picked a different color icing and used the piece of chocolate as hydrogen. We put its atomic number, 1, on the top, its symbol, H, in the middle, and its state of matter at room temperature, gas, on the side using a balloon to represent that.
Next we picked a different color icing and used the piece of chocolate as hydrogen. We put its atomic number, 1, on the top, its symbol, H, in the middle, and its state of matter at room temperature, gas, on the side using a balloon to represent that.
She then told us some facts about both elements.
- Oxygen is a nonmetal
- All living things need oxygen to survive
- Oxygen is a gas a room temperature, but it can change to a solid or liquid. When it’s a gas it is odorless and colorless.
- It was discovered by Carl Wilhelm Sheele in Sweden in 1771.
- Oxygen comes from a Greek word that means acid former.
She also gave us some facts about hydrogen.
- Hydrogen is the most abundant element, taking up 75% of the element mass in the universe
- Hydrogen is the lightest of the elements
- Hydrogen is extremely flammable and used as rocket fuel, it was also responsible for the explosion of the Hindenburg.
- Hydrogen is used in the processing of fossil fuels, and in the production of ammonia. It is also used to detect leaks in food packages.
- It was discovered by Henry Cavendish in 1766.
Rebecca gave us a great Chapter Challenge! It was fun, enlightening, and very tasty!!
#5 Doctor of Fun-Ilyssa
Next, we had Doctor of Fun by Ilyssa. She was required to make a game that had something to do with the chapter. Ilyssa decided to create a matching game. She made cards with the symbol of one of the first 18 elements. There were two of each, and everyone took turns turning over two cards. If you got two of the same ones, then you had to tell what the symbol stood for, the atomic number of that element, and whether or not it was a metal, metalloid, or a nonmetal. She brought a prize of an “atomic” fireball for everyone in the class. Everyone had a ton of fun trying to remember where things were, and many times we couldn’t. We all struggled with the atomic numbers at first, but by the end we got better. It was a great chapter challenge and marvelous preparation for the blank periodic table section of our test!
Periodic Table Project-Douglas
Next, we had Douglas, who didn’t do a card, but a project specifically related to our chapter. He was required to create a depiction of the periodic table demonstrating how members of a group were each different but related, and how members in a period change gradually and predictably. Also, he had to show how hydrogen was a freak. He decided to use rugby balls that are different colors and have different amounts of laces. The groups were all the same color and the elements of the periods each got one more lace as you went up in atomic number. He showed all of the representative elements, and with the space in the middle he created a beautiful key to explain his board. It was a great table, and really helped me understand the way elements in a group are similar, and the elements in a period change.
