Atom Frenzy – Lesson 2 – Introducing Molecules
Students perform the fun class Atoms and Molecules Play which reinforces what they learnt about atoms and then introduces them to molecules by acting out being atoms and molecules. Finally, they make some ‘toy’ molecules by following a set of rules.
1. Introduction: In this lesson, students will use their language of atoms to develop and introduce molecules. Students will develop the idea that a molecule is two or more atoms joined together. Students will:
- Play with toy atoms and feel the forces as they combine into molecules
- Play-act different types of atoms and follow the rules of electrical attraction to form molecules
- Sing songs about key molecules
2. Activity (small groups) – Atoms are like Lego bricks: Students recall and share the Lego objects they made last lesson. They then make model oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, water and carbon dioxide molecules.
3. Activity (whole class) – Play acting the formation of molecules: Students enact and discuss the Atoms and Molecules Play.
4. Activity (small groups) – Playing with magnetic balls to create model molecules: Students make model oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, water and carbon dioxide molecules using magnetic toy atoms (Einstein-First Tatoms and/or Snatoms atoms). Students then make water molecules out of plasticine. Finish by singing the H2O Micky Mouse Molecule Song.
5. Group Reporting – Paper Plate Atoms, Similarities and Differences: When students have finished ‘building’ their atom, ask them to sit in their groups in a large circle, with their model atoms in front of them. Each group’s spokesperson names their atom and explains to the class how they made it.
Then create an Atoms ‘Same’ and ‘Different’ chart by asking students two questions: In what way are the atoms the same? In what way are the atoms different? Draw out similarities and differences by questioning.
6. Review and introduce the next lesson: Identify and review all new words and write them on the class Word Wall. In addition, let students know that in the next lesson we will learn about the forces that hold atoms and molecules together.
Students will:
- know that two or more atoms often combine to form molecules
- know four important molecules: O2, N2, H2O and CO2
- use models to explain how molecules are formed.
- Note that in the early trials of this module some students did not differentiate between atoms and molecules. The trial teachers found that it was very important to reinforce the following points as you introduce molecules:
- Atoms are the building blocks of everything in our world.
- There are only about 100 different types of atoms.
- Everything else is made when two or more atoms combine together to form molecules.
- Review the Atom Frenzy Lesson 2 PowerPoint
- Access to a clear area where students can act out being atoms and molecules.
- Atom labels: H, N, O and C for hats or shirts (Consider asking students to wear their ‘house/faction’ t-shirts: hydrogen green; oxygen red; nitrogen yellow or blue and carbon black or other colour.)
- To make atoms and molecules: two different colours of plasticine (e.g., oxygen red, hydrogen white)
- Sealable plastic bags of Lego bricks for each group: (please note atoms do not actually have any associated colour)
- 8 small one colour (H)
- 8 large second colour (C)
- 8 large third colour (N)
- 12 large fourth colour (O)
- Einstein-First Tatoms kits: Tennis ball and ping pong ball magnetic atoms. These are robust and show how molecules wiggle and vibrate. These can be made by inserting small rare-earth magnets into pingpong balls and securely gluing magnets to the outside of tennis balls. Detailed instructions on how to purchase or make these will soon be available on this website. Alternatively, you can use atomic models such as Snatoms: see https://snatoms.com/ – (Another alternative is to use: polystyrene balls or balloons and thick double-sided tape, sticky Velcro dots or Blu Tack to stick the balls/balloons together.)
Start Lesson 2 by referring back to your model atoms built in the last lesson and review the key learnings from Lesson 1:
- What is everything made of? Atoms
- What does indivisible mean? (Teacher’s note: The word ‘atom’ comes from the Greek word ‘atomos’ meaning indivisible.) Cannot be broken down into smaller parts. (Atoms are not actually indivisible. We now know that when you break up atoms we find that they are made of electrons, protons and neutrons.)
- In the early 1900’s scientists worked out that all atoms are made up of just three types of miniscule particles. What are the names of these three types of particles and where are they located in an atom? When atoms are broken up, we find that they are made of electrons in the electron cloud, and protons and neutrons in the central core called the nucleus.
- What is an element? A collection of the same type of atom.
- What things are the same about all atoms? They are all miniscule, too small to be seen using a normal light microscope, all have electrons in the electron cloud, all have protons and neutrons in the nucleus, all nuclei are miniscule compared to the atom itself.
- What things are different about different types of atoms? The number of protons which determine the type of atom; the number of electrons; the number of neutrons; and the size of different atoms.
- What makes a carbon atom carbon and a hydrogen atom hydrogen? The number of protons – carbon has six protons while hydrogen only has one.
Introduce the Lesson 2 learning intentions using the Atom Frenzy Lesson 2 PowerPoint.
Explain that we will learn how atoms combine to form molecules.
The video on the right provides a quick overview of Activities 2 and 4. We recommend viewing it before reading through the detailed activity guides below.
Making molecules from different ‘Lego atoms’
Remember that in the first lesson we spend just 5 minutes make as many things as we could with our small number of Lego bricks.
- What does this show us about Lego bricks? Just four Lego bricks can be combined to make a large number of different
Share the range of objects built from Lego bricks.
Making elements: the same type of atom joining together
Now we will use our ‘Lego atoms’ to build four hydrogen molecules, six oxygen molecules, and four nitrogen molecules and combine eight atoms of carbon together to form diamond.
Making compounds: different types of atoms joining together
Repeat but this time build CO2 and H2O.
- How are atoms like Lego bricks? They combine to make If the atoms are the same, then they make an element. If they are different, then they make a compound, like water or carbon dioxide.
Continually reinforce that in science we use models to explain things that we cannot ordinarily see. In this lesson we will act out being atoms and molecules, and we will also make model atoms.
In this play (Atoms and Molecules) we will act out how atoms combine to form molecules according to some simple rules to help students understand how atoms combine together to become molecules which are different substances.
Remind students about your practice introduction to the play in the first session if you did so.
Ask students to collect a hat labelled according to the play’s introduction (Hydrogen, Carbon, Nitrogen or Oxygen)
Make sure all students have a copy of the script and have their Atom hat on to show what kind of Atom they represent.
We will start with just four types of atoms: hydrogen or H, oxygen or O, nitrogen or N and carbon or C. Ask students who can remember how each of these four atoms is made up? Refer back to the models constructed in the previous lesson.
Have all students stand randomly about a metre from each other in a clear, open space.
Make sure all students are ready. Answer any last-minute questions students have.
Then ask the Atomic Narrator to start and keep the play moving along at a good pace.
Once the Play has finished ask students about the main things they learnt in each Act. You may use the following questions as a guide for this discussion or consider bringing them up later in the lesson during the ‘Making your own Molecules’ activity:
Discussion of Act 1: Introducing atoms
- How are atoms like Lego bricks? They combine together to make things.
- How do you know whether two atoms are the same or different? If they have the same atomic number then they are the same – so 6 is always Carbon, etc. – this is also the number of protons it has in its nucleus.
- Think back to Lesson 1 where we built four model atoms on paper/plastic plates. Can anyone think of the connection between the atom’s number and the number of protons that atom has? The number is the number of protons an atom has in its nucleus.
- What four atoms did we learn something about? Which was number 1? Hydrogen; Number 6? Carbon; Number 7? Nitrogen; and Number 8? Oxygen.
Discussion of Act 2: Atoms partnering with a buddy
Atoms join with the same type of atom to form elements. Consider discussing some or all of these questions during the ‘Making Elements’ part of the ‘Making your own Molecules’ activity.
- When two hydrogen atoms join together, what do we get? A hydrogen molecule.
- How do hydrogen molecules ‘help a balloon take flight? They are the smallest and lightest gas, so hydrogen-filled balloons will float in air just like a plastic duck floats in water.
- How do nitrogen atoms make nitrogen molecules? Two nitrogen atoms join up, just like the hydrogen atoms did.
- Where is a lot of nitrogen found? In the air – about three quarters of the air is nitrogen.
- What other gas is in the air? Oxygen
- How are oxygen molecules made? The same way – two oxygen atoms combine to form an oxygen molecule.
- Carbon is a bit different. What do the carbon atoms say they are? Diamonds and charcoal – also the ‘lead’ in pencils.
- What about carbon? How is carbon different? Carbon does not form into molecules of two atoms – instead it likes staying in large groups or clusters of atoms.
- What holds the atoms together? Binding energy from the magnets – electrical forces.
- What is an element? A collection of molecules made from the same type of atom is called an element.
- What two rules did we use to make molecules of the same type of atom, or elements?
- Rule 1: Hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen atoms normally stick together in pairs to make H2, N2 and O2
- Rule 2: Carbon atoms like to stick together in a clump.
Atoms join with the same type of atom to form elements. Consider discussing some or all of these questions during the ‘Making Compounds’ part of the ‘Making your own Molecules’ activity.
- What is a molecule? Two or more atoms joined together.
- What do we call two or more of the same type of atoms joined together? They can be in twos, like H2, O2 and N2, or there can be a massive group of the same atoms stuck together, like carbon. Groups of the same type of atom are called elements.
- What is water? A clear, runny, wet liquid, etc.
- What is a water molecule made of? Two hydrogen atoms joined to one oxygen atom
- Does anyone know how we write water in ‘chemistry shorthand’? H2O which we write H2
- Does anyone know what carbon dioxide is? A gas
- Where does carbon dioxide come from? Burning things made from carbon atoms, in the air we breathe out
- What is a carbon dioxide molecule made of? One carbon and two oxygen atoms
- Who would like to have a go at the chemistry shorthand for carbon dioxide? CO2 or CO2
- What two rules did we use to make molecules of different atoms to create the compounds water and carbon dioxide?
- Rule 3: Hydrogens and oxygen can make water – two hydrogens and one oxygen
- Rule 4: Carbon atoms and oxygen atoms can make carbon dioxide gas – one carbon and two oxygen atoms.
- What do you know about carbon dioxide? We make carbon dioxide in our bodies in our cells and breathe it out. It is the gas given off in the burning of any fossil fuel (coal, natural gas or petrol). It creates a ‘blanket’ in the atmosphere that is causing the Earth’s atmosphere to get warmer.
See the activity video in section 2, above.
Making Elements: the same type of atom joining together
Working in groups, students make ‘toy’ H2, N2 and O2, molecules using Einstein-First Tatoms kits (or make your own magnetic atoms by inserting small rare-earth magnets into ping-pong balls and securely gluing magnets to the outside of tennis balls for which a detailed guide will soon be added.) or Snatoms atoms. Alternatively use polystyrene balls or inflated balloon with Blu Tack, small pieces of thick double-sided tape or Velcro dots which are sticky on one side.
Each group uses the magnetic tennis balls to see toy molecules forming! Pass them around and let everyone feel the toy molecules forming. Ask them to feel the force you need to pull them apart and feel how they wobble when they move them.
We call the energy that is released when they come together binding energy because it is what holds the atoms together.
Students can then use a tablet or phone to take photos of the model molecules of these four elements. Students may also like to draw their molecules.
Making Compounds: different types of atoms joining together
Now we will build two molecules from different atoms: the most common liquid on Earth, water, or H2O, and the gas that is produced when things burn, carbon dioxide, or a CO2 molecule.
Ask students to use their magnetic atoms to make one water molecule (H2O) and one carbon dioxide molecule (CO2). Again, ask the students to feel the atoms pulling together as each toy molecule forms. Then, notice the force needed to pull them apart again.
- Where does this force come from? The electrical forces from the magnets.
Again, students may like to draw or take photos of the model H2O and CO2 molecules.
Sing and act out the H2O Mickey Mouse Molecule song (lyrics) and pass around the toy H2O molecules and see how the ‘ears’ vibrate. We will revisit our Mickey Mouse Molecule several times throughout the module.
Then ask each group member to build four H2O molecules from plasticine (red for the oxygen atom and white for the hydrogen atoms, ideally) and put their group’s H2O molecules into a small storage container. Have students write their group’s name on the container. We will use these later to help us explain how water molecules behave.
Identify and review all new words and write them on the class Word Wall.
In addition, let students know that in the next lesson we will learn how we can ‘see’ or detect atoms and molecules.
Optional Extension Task
- The MEL Chemistry Virtual Reality Lessons operate in VR mode and non-VR mode. Schools with VR headsets could use these to explore the site, otherwise, it works very well using a tablet or viewed together as a class on YouTube. There is a free trial.
- In the first lesson, Atoms in Solids, explore how carbon atoms can form either diamonds or graphite.
- how are diamonds and graphite the same and how are they different?
- In the second lesson, Atoms in Gases, explore how Helium atoms behave in a gas.
- How does a Helium balloon stay inflated or ‘blown up’?
- How are the helium atoms arranged differently from the carbon atoms?
Molecule: Two or more atoms held together by electrical forces.
Element: A pure substance made from the same type of atoms that cannot be broken down by a chemical reaction into simpler substances.
Compound: A pure substance made when two or more elements combine.
Hydrogen molecule: A molecule made from two hydrogen atoms.
Hydrogen: A pure gas made from hydrogen molecules.
Oxygen molecule: A molecule made from two oxygen atoms.
Oxygen: A pure gas made from oxygen molecules.
Nitrogen molecule: A molecule made from two nitrogen atoms.
Nitrogen: A pure gas made from nitrogen molecules.
Water molecule: A molecule made when two hydrogen atoms combine with one oxygen atom.
Water: A pure substance made from water molecules.
Carbon dioxide molecule: A molecule made when one carbon atom combines with two oxygen atoms.
Carbon dioxide: A pure gas made from carbon dioxide molecules.