Modeling Chemical Bonding
Purpose: As a result of this activity, students will be able to understand that atoms form bonds according the properties of atoms.
Related Standard & Benchmarks:
Science
Standard 8. Understands the structure and properties of matter
Level IV [Grade 9-12]
Benchmark 4. Knows that atoms may be bonded together into molecules or crystalline solids, and compounds are formed from chemical bonds between two or more different kinds of atoms
Student Product: Models of chemical compounds
Material & Resources: Commercial set of chemical models or styrofoam balls and toothpicks, textbook or reference book that shows the configurations of molecules.
Teacher's Note: This activity assumes that students have been introduced to the basic concepts of bonding and valence electrons. If styrofoam balls are used to represent atoms, they should be distinguished by being of different sizes and/or being colored or marked.