Clark University 02/02/2017

Learning Activity Plan

Chemistry, Mrs. Phillips

  1. Content: Chemical Bonding – Covalent Review

Today, students will participate in an activity to get some more practice with all of the topics we have been discussing this week – first using the criss-cross method to predict the chemical formula of a compound, then naming it according to our nomenclature rules, and then using manipulatives to create Lewis Dot structures for these compounds. Students will be placed into small, intentional groups to work through their activity packets, with groups designed to ensure that students of all abilities are involved and engaged in the activity. This will serve as a review and assessment of student understanding of this past week’s topics, and will give students additional practice with each of these areas before we move on to ionic compounds.

  1. Learning Goals:
  2. SWBAT predict the number of valence electrons that an atom has by looking at its position on the periodic table and use this number to predict a compound’s chemical formula.
  1. SWBAT analyze the chemical formula of a given molecular compound and use the atomic symbols and subscripts to determine the name of the compound.
  2. SWBAT create Lewis Dot diagrams by calculating the total number of valence electrons in a compound and creating double and triple bonds where needed to form full octets.
  3. SWBAT assess their own understanding/evaluate their work with Lewis Dot diagrams by checking each atom for a full octet and ensuring all valence electrons are used.
  1. Rationale:

Chemical bonding is a central topic in chemistry that students will need to understand to be able to succeed in future lessons (for example: stoichiometry, chemical reactions, etc.). Information gained through this unit will also help students to connect chemistry with many real-life scenarios, making chemistry more relevant and exciting. The review and constant use of termsin this lesson, such as bonding and nonbonding pairs, Lewis Dot diagram, valence electrons, and more(which have been introduced via powerpoint, notes, and class discussion) will ensure that students have a solid foundation on chemical bonding before moving on to concepts that build upon this (stoichiometry, chemical reactions, and more). The hands-on activity that students are participating in today will provide visual and collaborative learners with much needed, hands-on practice and will ensure a complete understanding of the topics we have covered this week before moving on.

  1. Assessment:

The students and I will know that the students have reached the learning goals when they are able to complete their activity packets, identifying the molecular formula, the molecule’s name, and the Lewis dot structure of each covalent compound. Students will use manipulatives to help make their thinking visual and to help them become accustomed to creating structures without having to erase and rewrite their electrons constantly, which will help me to see any disconnects in their thinking.The final assessment for this unit will be in the form of an exam covering all topics in the chemical bonding unit.

  1. Personalization and Equity:

The use of step-by-step instructions and a modeled example will help my IEP and ELL students to engage fully with the lesson, and the visual, hands-on nature of the activity will help students who are more kinesthetic, visual learners to understand the concepts we have been discussing this week. The use of “I do, we do, you do” to model an example problem will help ensure that students understand the material fully before they begin working independently. The activity will also give me the opportunity to check in one-on-one with my students who tend to struggle or become distracted, such asDan, Kennedy, Clay, and Brandon. As always, all students will be encouraged to come for extra help in the morning or afternoons as needed, and Clay will be allowed to e-mail his completed assignment to me as usual to ensure this gets handed in (if not completed in class).

  1. Activity Description and Agenda:
  2. Agenda

Time / Teacher: / Students: / Rationale:
0:00 – 0:15 / Teacher will begin the lesson by telling students that they will be doing an activity today that will tie into everything they have been doing this week. Teacher will explain to students that they will be using manipulatives to create Lewis Dot structures – after they have determined the molecular formula and nomenclature for each set of atoms that they are given. Teacher will ask students to remind her how to determine the molecular formula of an example compound, CCl4, and then ask students to name this compound using their nomenclature notes. Teacher will then review the creation of Lewis Structures using this molecule and the activity manipulatives, modeling what is expected of students in this activity. / Students will take out their notebooks and make some notes about what they notice/any patterns they see in these structures before sharing with the class. Students will make suggestions as to how they would go about creating these diagrams. / This will serve to engage students in today’s lesson and serve as an easy entry point into the lesson for all students.
0:15 – 0:55 / Teacher will assign groupings of students, hand out the activity packets, and provide each group with a bag of manipulatives, a laminated Lewis structure handout, and a dry erase marker. Teacher will circulate the room and ensure students are focused and on-task throughout the activity, answering questions as needed and prodding groups in the right direction if they become stuck. / Students will get into their assigned groups and begin working on their activity packets, first calculating the chemical formula, then naming the compound, and creating a Lewis structure for each. / This will help me to assess students’ understanding of the topics we have been discussing this week and serve to highlight areas where we need to review or spend a little more time before moving on to ionic compounds.
0:55 – 0:60 / Teacher will ask students to fill out the last page of their packet before handing it in, completing a “self-evaluation” of their understanding of these topics using the “red light, yellow light, green light” icons to indicate their understanding of each topic. Teacher will remind students about their blue books and ask students to turn in their packets before heading out. / Students will complete their self-evaluations and turn in their worksheets before leaving for the day. / This will help me to see where students feel most confident and see where we need to focus our attention moving forward.

Homework:Blue Books – Due Tomorrow

  1. Challenges:

I anticipate that there may be problems with students forgetting the procedure for predicting chemical formula, nomenclature, or creating Lewis Dot Structures, and so will model each of these using the same compound at the start of class to avoid any confusion once the activity begins. I believe that some students may have trouble focusing for the duration of the practice activity and so will walk around the room and assist as needed and ensure that students remain on task. Finally, I anticipate some students may not understand exactly what to do with their manipulatives, and so will model this at the start of the lesson as well.

  1. Frameworks:

4.1 Explain how atoms combine to form compounds through both ionic and covalent bonding.Predict chemical formulas based on the number of valence electrons.

4.2 Draw Lewis dot structures for simple molecules and ionic compounds.

4.6 Name and write the chemical formulas for simple ionic and molecular compounds, includingthose that contain the polyatomic ions: ammonium, carbonate, hydroxide, nitrate, phosphate,and sulfate.

  1. Reflection:

This activity was designed to help me assess my students’ current level of understanding with regards to the many different topics surrounding covalent compounds that we had been covering, such as naming covalent molecules, predicting the chemical formulas of covalent molecules, and drawing lewis dot structures of covalent molecules. To address the different needs of students in my classroom, I provided each group with a set of tools to choose from to help them model their thinking – including white boards and markers, bingo chips to model electron dots, and detailed worksheets with step-by-step instructions. These different options were met with enthusiasm by students, some of whom opted to use the chips, while others preferred to simply model on the white board. I am glad that I decided to give the students these options to use rather than requiring that students use one medium or the other, as students seemed to really do well with their chosen method and I think requiring them to use one or another would likely have hampered their progress.

Another way I tried to meet the needs of my students was that I made sure to involve the whole class in a mini-review of the concepts I was assessing in this activity to make sure expectations were clear before students began, which I believe played a large part in how smooth this activity went. Students were able to reference the examples on the board when they got stuck throughout the activity, and the groupings I created gave students an intentional support system that was beneficial to all students – my high flyers readily took on the role of “teacher” in groups where students were struggling and worked collaboratively with their peers to ensure all group members understood the material.

This activity gave me a great deal of feedback about student progress and the worksheets showed me that students needed to spend some more time focusing on the symmetry of Lewis structures, on simplifying when predicting chemical formulas, and would benefit from just a little more practice to make sure students were completely confident in their knowledge of covalent compounds. I will definitely use this activity again – the nature of the activity allowed student thinking to become easily visible for assessment and helped me greatly in planning my lessons going forward.