Performance task 3

Reflective Essay 2nd quarter topics

This essay discusses the 2nd quarter topics. As far as I can recall, the topics
discussed here are: Electronic Structure of Matter, Chemical Bonding, Carbon
Compounds including the small details about the topics here in this essay. In this
essay, there are 3 lesson discussed here, first one are Electronic structure: under this
topic we'll learn about electronic configuration, properties of electrons, electronic
configuration table and periodic table. Second lesson, Chemical bond: under this
topic is about covalent and ionic bonds. The last lesson, Carbon compounds: under
this topic will learn about the carbon chemistry including organic chemistry and
inorganic chemistry.

The first lesson that our teacher discussed is the Electronic structure of Matter. My
science teacher explained Rutherford’s Model and Bohr’s model. What I learned is
Rutherford’s nuclear atomic model, the atom as mostly empty space while Bohr’s
model describes the atom like a solar system. I learned because my teacher
explained how its mass concentrated in the nucleus that consists of protons and
neutrons, and where Bohr’s atomic model electron found only in specific circular
paths. The evidence Bohr used to explain his model of atom is the Flame test, our
teacher showed us how the flames emit its color by putting different metal salts.

The second lesson was Chemical bonding. The valence electrons, electronegativity,
and ionization energy are a few examples. What I learned is Electronegativity is a
concept in chemistry that describes how strongly an atom attracts a bonding pair of
electrons relative to other atoms in the same chemical element. Ionization energy
describes the amount of energy required to remove an electron from its parent atom. I
learned it because we had quizzes that focused on key topics of the material: the
periodic table and bonding so I thought it might be useful to go over my notes on the
chemical bonding so that you can see how I learned about it. I found it difficult to learn
some of the concepts in chemistry class this quarter.

The third lesson is the Carbon Compounds; we have to learn a lot about these carbon
compounds. What I learned is that organic compounds are known to contain the
element of carbon. Although there are others, the most important type is the
hydrocarbon, which contain only hydrogen and carbon. And also there is 3 types of
arrangements: single bond, double bond and triple bond and it’s the Alkanes, Alkenes
and Alkynes. I learned because it is explained and illustrated with examples in the
board.

In conclusion, second quarter is focused on periodic table and elements. Working on

the 2nd quarter showed me that chemistry is a field that is not only about memorizing
facts but actually exploring the many ways of things can be related. It seems that
everything we see around us is made up of bonds between the different atoms, held
together by electricity from the atmosphere. All of us had a lot of fun learning the most
important chemical elements in the universe and learning about their properties. They
helped me gain a deeper understanding of what science is.