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Atoms and Static ElectricityWeek One
This lesson is designed to teach about the structure of atoms, with a focus on conceptualmodeling. Additionally, it will teach the relationship between protons and electrons and the atom'soverall charge.
Objectives
1.Be able to describe the roles of protons, neutrons, and electrons in an atom.2.Be able to conceptualize the scale of atomic building blocks.3.Understand the limitations and advantages of models.
Introduction
As a class, brainstorm about what the students think everything around them is made up of. For example, ask what their desk is made of (wood), and then ask what wood is made of, etc. Ask them toconsider a concrete case: a sheet of aluminum foil. If you were to rip the sheet in half, and then in half again, would you be able to continue indefinitely? The answer is no. Eventually you would be leftwith a single aluminum atom. Ask if anyone has heard of atoms, and let the students know that is whatyou will be talking about today.
Atoms
There are currently 117 known elements (each “element” is a different type of atom), 94 of which are found naturally on earth (as of 2007). See if the students can come up with other examplesof atoms besides aluminum. Some suggestions are gold (Au), silver (Ag), carbon (C), and oxygen (O).Scientists organize the different elements into a chart called the periodic table. We will talk more abouthow this is organized later in the lesson.To give students an idea of how small an atom is, have them picture a strand of hair and guesshow many atoms wide it is. A human hair is about one million carbon atoms wide, and a speck of dustmay have as many as three trillion atoms. If you were to try to add up all all of the atoms in the widthof a hair at a rate of one per hour, it would take over 100 years!
 
Structure of Atoms
Draw a model of an atom up on the board (for simplicity, we will talk about the Bohr model).Ask the students if they know what each part of the model is. If they are having difficulty, promptthem. There are three main components of an atom. The protons (positively charged particles) andneutrons (neutrally charged particles) are bound together very tightly (by the “strong force”) in what iscalled the nucleus. They can only be broken apart by a very large amount of energy. They type of atom is determined by the number of protons in the nucleus. For example, carbon has 6 protons,oxygen has 8 protons, and gold has 79 protons. Next tell the students that there are very small particlescalled electrons (the same things that make up electricity), which are negatively charged and orbitaround the nucleus. In a regular, uncharged atom, there are an equal number of electrons and protonsto balance each other out. In the periodic table, elements (or atoms) are arranged sequentially based onthe number of protons in their nucleus. It is helpful to have a picture of the periodic table to show them(which can be easily found online). Atoms near the top have fewer protons than the atoms near the bottom, and elements in each column share similar chemical properties. For example, elements in thefirst column are all very reactive when they come in contact with water.
Atomic Scale and Modeling Activity
Tell the students that atoms are mostly empty space, and to model this you are going to gooutside. First, however, the students should complete the atomic modeling worksheet so theyunderstand the structure of an atom. Once the worksheet is completed, take the class outside and
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