The Chemistry of the atmosphere
Organizing Theme: From the stars to our atmosphere - chemistry explains what happens above the ground.
Text resource - Chemistry: Atoms First (OpenStax)
Sequence
Part 1: Light from the stars
Part 2 - ionosphere
Part 3: Molecules in air
Part 4 - Tying it together Carbon / Nitrogen cycle research activity
Explanation and grading here
Rough draft analysis tool here
Chemistry Skills:
Chemistry skills Part 1
Chemistry skills - Part 3:
Chemistry skills - Part 4:
Vocabulary
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Text resource - Chemistry: Atoms First (OpenStax)
- Chapter 3 sections 1-7
- Chapter 4 sections 1-6
Sequence
Part 1: Light from the stars
- Intro overview - slides with pretest
- Light intro - slides
- Unit conversion practice
- Calculate velocity, wavelength, frequency of waves - practice
- Lab - Flame test and emission tubes - here
- Calculating energy of photons or frequency of light - practice
- Skills test
- Coulombic attraction (Group activity)
- Electron energy and light - Group activity
- Simulation - photoelectric effect here
- Light and electrons - slides
- College chem prep: Electron configurations (group activity)
- Skills test 2
Part 2 - ionosphere
- Intro slides
- Atomic Structure reminder / simple electron config (here)
- Ion models and ionic compounds slides
- Ionic compounds (practice)
- Naming ionic compounds - possible Group activity simulation here practice here
- Practice naming ionic compounds (here)
- Unit conversion reminder (practice)
- Periodic trends (slides or Group activity)
- Polyatomic ions - group activity
- Practice writing net ionic equations (here)
- Lab - Precipitation - data sheet
- Practice naming, practice electron dot structure (here)
- Extra - Simulation to help master unit conversions (here)
Part 3: Molecules in air
- Practice Balancing Equations - here
- Ozone in the atmosphere - article and questions
- Naming Covalent compounds here - cheat sheet for naming here
- Single displacement reactions - lab - practice
- Naming acids here
- Smog - here
- Lewis structure of covalent compounds (here) practice (here)
- Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (here)
- College prep: predicting geometric shape (here)
- College prep: predicting polarity (here)
- Practice naming, balancing equations and atmosphere
Part 4 - Tying it together Carbon / Nitrogen cycle research activity
Explanation and grading here
Rough draft analysis tool here
Chemistry Skills:
Chemistry skills Part 1
- Be able to describe what Bohr proposed in his model of the atom
- Be able to describe the quantum mechanical model of electrons
- Be able to explain how sublevels of principal energy levels differ
- Be able to write electron configurations of elements in the ground state
- Be able to describe characteristics of waves
- Be able to explain what causes atomic emission spectra
- Be able to calculate frequency given wavelength
- Be able to calculate energy of a photon
- Be able to distinguish between quantum mechanics and classical mechanics
- Be able to name columns in the periodic table
- Be able to identify valence electrons from the periodic table
- Be able to predict relative atomic radius of atoms
- Be able to predict relative ionization energy of atoms
- Be able to predict relative electronegativity of atoms
- Be able to predict ionic state of an atom
- Be able to draw electron dot structures of atoms and ions
- Be able to predict the chemical formula of ionic compounds
Chemistry skills - Part 3:
- Be able to define covalent compounds and interpret information from a molecular formula
- Be able to explain the result of electron sharing in covalent bonds
- Be able to draw lewis structures for covalent compounds and polyatomic ions
- Be able to identify some exceptions to the octet rule
- Be able to explain how the strength of a covalent bond is related to its bond dissociation energy
- Be able to draw resonance structures and describe how they are used
- Be able to describe relationship between atomic and molecular orbitals
- Be able to use the VSEPR theory to predict the shape of a molecule (Linear, Bent, Trigonal planar, trigonal pyramidal, tetrahedral)
- Be able to predict polarity of a bond and polarity of a molecule
- Be able to describe how electronegativity values determine the charge distribution in a polar molecule
- Be able to evaluate the strengths of inter-molecular interactions compared with the strengths of ionic and covalent interactions
Chemistry skills - Part 4:
- Be able to explain the carbon and nitrogen cycles from the perspective of a chemist
Vocabulary
Part 1:
- Energy level
- Quantum
- Quantum mechanical model
- Atomic orbital
- Electron configuration
- Aufbau principle
- Pauli exclusion principle
- Spin
- Hunds rule
- Amplitude
- Wavelength
- Frequency
- Hertz
- Electromagnetic radiation
- Spectrum
- Atomic emission spectrum
- Planck’s constant
- Photoelectric effect
- Photon
- Ground state
- Heisenberg uncertainty principle
Part 2:
- Metals, Non-metals, Metalloid
- Alkali metals, Alkaline earth metals, Halogens, Noble gases, Transition metals
- Atomic radius
- Cation
- Anion
- Ionization energy
- Electronegativity
- Valence electron
- Electron dot structures
- Octet rule
- Halide ion
- Ionic compound, Ionic bond
- Chemical formula
- Formula unit
- Coordination number
- Metallic bonds
- Alloy
Part 3:
- Covalent bond
- Covalent molecule
- Molecular compound
- Molecular formula
- Single covalent bond
- Structural formula
- Unshared pair
- Double covalent bond
- Triple covalent bond
- Coordinate covalent bond
- Polyatomic ion
- Bond dissociation energy
- Resonance structure
- Molecular orbital
- Bonding orbital
- Sigma bond
- Pi bond
- Tetrahedral angle
- VSEPR theory
- Hybridization
- Nonpolar covalent bond
- Polar covalent bond
- Polar molecule
- Dipole
- Van Der Walls forces
- Dipole interaction
- Dispersion force
- Hydrogen bond
- Network solid