Foundation Science

Preview of the Chemistry Course

Sample Learning Experiences

View sample learning experiences [pdf]: Teacher Guide and Student Book

Chemistry at a Glance

The two semesters of Foundation Science: Chemistry are designed to be the equivalent of a full year introductory course in chemistry at the introductory high school level. Throughout the two semesters, the most important understandings are how people organize matter into substances and mixtures, the differences between physical and chemical change, and the connections between bonding, atomic arrangement, and the properties of materials. As in Foundation Science: Physics, an important overarching idea is that an understanding of fundamental concepts in science facilitates the design of new technologies and products that improve the quality of life. Every effort has been made to align content to national standards.

Short overviews and tables that describe the first and second semesters of Foundation Science: Chemistry follow.

First Semester (Chemistry 1)

The first semester of Foundation Science: Chemistry is an introduction to the main concepts of chemistry, which are the recognition of physical and chemical properties, an understanding of the organization of the periodic table, physical and chemical change (including the energy transformations and transfers that accompany those changes), atomic structure, atomic bonding, and an introduction to organic chemistry.

Learning Experience	Science Concepts	Learning Activities
Course Introduction
1. Mystery of the Hindenburg Disaster: Properties of Matter	Substances and mixtures, physical and chemical properties, physical and chemical changes	Students determine factors that led to the fire on and subsequent crash of the Hindenburg; students propose a cause for the fire.
Unit 1: Organization of Matter
2. Anthrax Scare at the Newspaper: Identifying an Unknown White Powder	Substances and mixtures, physical and chemical properties	Students measure the properties of white powders and use their results to determine the identity of an anthrax hoax.
3. It’s in the Cards: The Periodic Table	Compounds and elements, periodic table, periodic properties, atomic number, chemical formulas	Students observe the decomposition of water into elements and sort and organize element cards in order to build their own periodic table.
Unit 2: Physical and Chemical Changes
4. Project Oil Cleanup: Physical Properties and Physical Change	Physical changes at the macro and micro levels, states of matter, mixtures, separations, conservation of mass in physical changes	Students work as a team to decontaminate and separate the components of crude oil after Hurricane Katrina.
5. Heat It Up, Cool It Down: Energy in Physical Change	Endothermic and exothermic physical processes, intermolecular bonds	Students investigate how water puts out fires and look for an alternative way to put out fires.
6. Copper and the Statue of Liberty: Chemical Changes	Chemical changes at the macro and micro levels, chemical reaction types, conservation of mass in chemical changes, ratios in chemical changes, balancing equations	Students learn how the copper used to make the Statue of Liberty was obtained and extract copper from an ore.
Further Investigation— Would You Eat NaAl(SO4)2?: Chemical Changes	Further investigation of chemical change, reaction types, balancing equations, and conservation of mass	Students extend their understanding of chemical reactions by comparing three leavening agents: baking soda, baking powder, and yeast.
7. Making It Happen: Energy in Chemical Reactions	Endothermic and exothermic chemical processes, chemical bonds, kinetic theory	Students investigate the properties of phosphorus and its application in matches; students design a new product using exothermic and endothermic reactions.
Further Investigation— Collision Chemistry: Exploring Reaction Rates	Collision theory, reaction rates, factors influencing reaction rates	Students design experiments to increase the rates of reactions in various scenarios.
Unit 3: Atomic Structure and Bonding
8. Science Detectives: The Structure of the Atom	Protons, neutrons, and electrons; nucleus; energy levels; orbitals	Students investigate the structure of the atom by role playing various scientists who contributed to the current atomic theory.
9. Carbon-Based Life-Forms: Chemical Bonds	Electron dot symbols; octet rule; ionic, covalent, and metallic bonding	Students investigate bonding in various compounds and investigate carbon compounds in particular.
10. The Power of Polymers: Structure and Properties of Large Molecules	Polymers, molecular synthesis, structure-properties relationship	Students explore the relationship between structure and properties in natural and synthetic polymers with a focus on plastics.
Course Conclusion
11. Building By Design: And Sometimes By Accident	Substances and mixtures, physical and chemical properties, physical and chemical changes, structure-properties relationship	Students determine what starting conditions for a chemical reaction will result in a polymer with the most “bounce.”

Second Semester (Chemistry 2)

In the second semester of Foundation Science: Chemistry, students are given an opportunity to further apply and deepen their understanding of interactions at the atomic/molecular level and of bonding, concepts they learned in the first semester. Students are also introduced to the concepts of the gas laws, moles, polarity, reactions kinetics, and nuclear chemistry. These concepts are introduced in contexts that concern products that are prevalent in everyday life.

Learning Experience	Science Concepts	Learning Activities
Course Introduction
1. Introduction: The Origins of Elements	Nuclear fusion, atomic mass, isotopes, electronegativity, atomic radius, ionization energy	Students learn how elements are created within stars and are introduced to some specific characteristics of atoms.
Unit 1: Moles
2. The New Inventors: Counting Atoms	Mole concept	Students use data about the mass of various components of an alloy to determine the ratios of atoms in the alloy. Students then use information about the desired ratio of atoms in a new alloy to determine how much of each alloy component should be mixed together.
Unit 2: Mixtures
3. Breathless in the Quecreek Mine: Air as a Mixture	Gas state, covalent bonds, diffusion, mole concept, gas laws	Students examine the composition of air and how the composition of air changes during breathing, and learn the relationships among pressure, volume, moles, and temperature in a gas.
4. How Much Should You Drink? Water-based Solutions	Liquid state, ionic bonds, ions, solutions, solubility, diffusion, osmosis, mole concept	Students investigate dissolving and observe what happens when a membrane is placed between solutions with different concentrations of salt.
5. Testing Materials for Bicycle Frames: Solid Mixtures	Solid state, alloys, metals, physical and chemical properties, crystals, metallic bonds, manipulation of physical structure to achieve specific properties	Students investigate the properties of different metals and alloys, and model alloying at the atomic level.
Unit 3: Chemical Reactions
6. How Much CO2? Quantifying Chemical Reactions	Combustion, moles, limiting reactant, thermochemistry, calorimetry	Students investigate how burning different fuels releases different amounts of CO2 and energy.
7. Can the Rivers and Lakes Be Saved?: Acid-Base Reactions	Arrhenius and Bronsted-Lowry definitions of acids and bases, pH scale, neutralization, titration, strong and weak acids and bases, acid-base reactions, buffers, equilibrium, Le Chatelier’s principle	Students investigate the pH and buffering ability of one or more local bodies of water to determine if acid rain has affected the water now or may affect the water in the future.
8. What Will Fuel the Future? Oxidation-Reduction Reactions	Oxidation-reduction reactions, electrochemistry, voltaic cells, efficiency	Students investigate how a battery and a hydrogen–powered fuel cell works; students design a stand-alone energy system based on a fuel cell.
Unit 4: Nuclear Chemistry
9. Radioactive Assassination in London: Nuclear Chemistry	Isotopes, radioactivity, Band of Stability, radioactive decay, half-lives, nuclear fusion and fission, nuclear strong force	Students help Scotland Yard solve a murder case involving a former spy; the case has international implications; the suspected means of death is a deadly radioactive isotope.
Course Conclusion
10. The Future of Energy and Earth: Putting Your Knowledge to Work	Thermochemistry, electrochemistry, nuclear chemistry	Students role play a senatorial staffer charged with recommending investment in new energy technologies and alternative energy sources—clean coal technologies, nuclear power plants, solar panels, and more.

Outline subject to change.

EDC: Center for Science Education