Unit Lesson Plan for PS 4 & 5

Unit Name: Periodic Table, Physical and Chemical Changes

Dates: February 6 - March 10

SOL Objectives
PS.4 The student will investigate and understand the organization and use of the
periodic table of elements to obtain information. Key concepts include:
/
/ a) symbols, atomic numbers, atomic mass, chemical families (groups), and periods;

/ b) classification of elements as metals, metalloids, and nonmetals; and

/ c) formation of compounds through ionic and covalent bonding.

/
/
PS.5 The student will investigate and understand changes in matter and the
relationship of these changes to the Law of Conservation of Matter and Energy. Key
concepts include:

/ a) physical changes;
/
/ b) chemical changes; and

/ c) nuclear reactions.
/
Timeline
2/6 - 2/10
Periodic Table Song
Parts of the Periodic Table (PS 4a)
Metals, Nonmetals, and Metalloids (PS 4b)

2/13-2/17
Atomic Structure
Element Symbols
Bohr Models
Begin Bonding

2/20-2/24
Chemical Bonding: Ionic and Covalent Bonding (PS 4c)
Element Pizza boxes
 2/27-3/3
Physical and Chemical Changes (PS 5 a & b)
Endothermic and Exothermic Reactions
Vinegar and Baking Soda lab
Counting Atoms
Law of Conservation of Mass
Balancing Equations

3/6-3/10
Acids, Bases, and Salts
pH scale
Cabbage Lab
Nuclear Energy (PS 5c)

My Reflection
My challenge has been getting students to understand why it is important for them to
take notes and learn the basics before we apply them in a lab setting or other practice. I
need to learn how to make note-taking and learning the basics more interesting and
involved. I think that making an intentional effort to have a variety of activities
incorporated into each unit helps to keep the students interested. My mentor teacher
involves a lot of songs and videos into her class teaching which I think is helpful
because the students are then hearing someone else rather than just us talking. Since I
have 8th graders, rather than my 6th graders of last semester, I need to remember that
they should be a little bit more mature and can set some of their own learning goals as
well as take more responsibility for their learning. I want to create an opportunity for my
students to connect with their community by connecting their learning to a real-world
issue. I do hope to create an opportunity for students to design a project, test
hypotheses, and collaborate on a problem as I am working to create a project-based
learning project for them. This project will be based on topics from all 3 of their middle
school science classes as a way for them to review all of the information for their SOL
test. I think that I do a lot of informal assessments and individual encouragement
throughout the course of the class, but its something that I dont often document. I need
to work on doing a better job of documenting these things as well, rather than just their
formative assessments such as tests and quizzes.