Structure of the Atom

Notes in yellow highlight how I think about student thinking.

Notes in blue highlight how I use various resources in my planning.

Abstract:

Thus far students have talked about atomic charge, and the concept of a mole, as well as chemical reactions. This unit will begin to move students to why those things occur by building the ideas of electrons and orbitals that become essential for understanding bonding. Students have some background in this from physical science their freshman year, which allowed for this unit to come later in the year.

I make sure to focus on what students already know since learning best takes place when students can make connections to what they already know.

Big Ideas:

Over time our ideas of the smallest pieces of mater have changed. We started with the idea of atomos, meaning indivisible, which was the smallest piece of matter that we could get to; we could not break it up anymore. For a long time this idea was forgotten in favor of the Ancient Greek elements earth, wind, fire and water. We began to discover that there were indeed elements,

When I begin to plan a unit I begin with a goal of what I want my student understanding to be. In order to do this I develop what my big ideas for a particular unit would be, and try to write these in a way that my students could understand.

though many more than just the four given by Ancient Greeks. The idea of a small indivisible particle began to come forward again with the idea that there must be different forms of these small things. With the discovery of the electron in 1897 it was thought that there must be some way for these electrons to come out, so they must be floating around in something like a positively charged amorphous mass. This idea was tested by Rutherfords team by firing alpha particles (helium with no electrons on it, so very positively charged) at a thin sheet of gold. It was expected that they would pass right through with little deviation from a straight line, think of firing a gun at a thin layer of Jell-O with some raisin in it. Instead they found that a very small number bounced off at big angles, and some of them even straight back. This led them to believe that there must be something small, dense and positively charged at the center of the atom. This turned out to be the nucleus, and how the electrons moved around it was described by Bohr (think planets around the sun in the solar system), and was latter refined by de Broglie as moving in sort of waves in an electron cloud. Today we say that the atom is composed of protons and neutrons in the middle of the atom, they are very small, and have almost all of the atoms mass, and electrons (negatively charged) moving around in a cloud very far from the nucleus. The number of protons (which are positively charged) determines the element, and the protons and neutrons together determine the atomic mass. Differences within the same element in the number of neutrons cause different masses, and are called isotopes. Charges occur when electrons are gained (to make a negative charge) or lost (to make a positive charge), these charged atoms are called ions.

Examples
For the atomos idea, have students try to cut up a piece of paper as small as they can, and then ask students if we could get it smaller, and if there is a limit. When we get it as small as we can what will it look like?

By using concrete examples this helps both visual and tactile learners better connect to the content, while giving all students a more concrete way to make connections.

Jell-O mold with raisins inside (positively charged Jell-O, and negatively charged raisins).

One day walk through the paper that was published by Ernest Rutherford. Plum pudding model, what was expected, versus what actually happened (by using the paper). Maybe try to shoot a bb-gun through the JellO.

By bringing in pieces of actual scientific literature students can develop their scientific literacy, as well as develop ideas based on real data that helped develop scientific models.

Bring in pictures, and use an analogy of the solar system for the Bohr model.

Synthesized Objectives:
Students will make predictions on what they think the results of various historical experiments would be based on the previous model. After being given the actual results students will try to modify their original models to reconcile differences and then compare them to the model that came from each experiment.

Students will be able to create a model for their explanation of what a single atom of lithium would look like, by drawing a picture for each of the different models.

Students will calculate the charge when an atom has extra electrons, no extra electrons, and fewer electrons than the number of protons.

Students will calculate how many neutrons an isotope of an element has based on its mass number.

Standards

State Standards
C4.8 Atomic Structure

I am comfortable using the state objectives in my teaching and planning.

Electrons, protons, and neutrons are parts of the atom and have measurable properties, including mass and, in the case of protons and electrons, charge. The nuclei of atoms are composed of protons and neutrons. A kind of force that is only evident at nuclear distances holds the particles of the nucleus together against the electrical repulsion between the protons.
C4.8A Identify the location, relative mass, and charge for electrons, protons, and

neutrons.
C4.8B Describe the atom as mostly empty space with an extremely small, dense nucleus

consisting of the protons and neutrons and an electron cloud surrounding the nucleus.
C4.8D Give the number of electrons and protons present if the fluoride ion has a -1

charge.

C4.10 Neutral Atoms, Ions, and Isotopes

A neutral atom of any element will contain the same number of protons and electrons. Ions are charged particles with an unequal number of protons and electrons. Isotopes are atoms of the same element with different numbers of neutrons and essentially the same chemical and physical properties.
C4.10A List the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons for any given ion or

isotope.
C4.10B Recognize that an element always contains the same number of protons.

Next Generation Science Standards

5-PS1-1

I use the new national science standards in my planning, not only for objectives, but also for scientific practices, like the article that was referenced earlier.

Develop a model to describe that matter is made of particles too small to be seen.

From the Next Generation Science Standards page 109

By the end of grade 12. Each atom has a charged substructure consisting of a nucleus, which is made of protons and neutrons, surrounded by electrons.

Driving question

We have talked before about the size of individual atoms when we discussed the concept of the mole. Individual atoms are much too small for us to see even with a microscope. Given this information how could we go about determining what an atom is, what is inside of it, and how those things inside are organized?
To start to explore this question I would have students break into groups to develop some sort of initial small group consensus model that they would draw out. This helps to get their thoughts organized, and help let me know what their initial knowledge and misconceptions may be.

A good driving question can help set up something interesting for the students that they can continually come back to, to make connections and to keep the overall goal of the unit in their minds.

Assessment Questions:
Pre-Unit question:

Draw a picture of Daltons model of a lithium atom, Thomsons model, Bohrs model, and your own personal model of a lithium atom. Label each one.

Formative assessment questions:

By having a pre-unit question that will get revisited multiple times throughout the unit it lets students see how their thoughts have changed, and continually connects them back to the overarching concept of the unit.

What would you expect to observe if atoms were just solid balls that couldnt be broken up, and if they had no electrons? Also draw a picture using this model for a lithium atom, be sure to include labels. Based on the Plum-Pudding Model what would you expect to happen if you shot alpha particles at a super thin sheet of gold? Also draw a picture using this model for a lithium atom, be sure to include labels. Given that some of the alpha particles bounced straight back, and off to the side, what would you say is likely inside of an atom? What do you think it looks like? Also draw a picture using this model for a lithium atom, be sure to include labels. If an atom had less electrons then it had protons do you think it would have a positive charge, negative charge, or no charge? Why do you think that?

In order to be a different isotope the number of neutrons must be different. Why can it not be the number of protons that is different to make a new isotope? Hint think of gold with a mass number of 196 and 195.

Summative assessment questions:

Draw a picture each of the models that we have talked about, atomos, Plum-Pudding, Rutherford, and Bohr, for a beryllium atom. Be sure to label all of the parts of your drawing, and give an explanation for why we moved from one model to the next. What are the numbers of protons, neutrons, and electrons present in a fluorine ion with a negative one charge, and a mass number of 18?