Topic: Properties of the substances

Target group

Elementary school student (grades 7. and 8.)

Core curriculum:

Primary school. Chemistry.

I. Substances and their properties. Pupil:

1) describes the properties of substances that are the main ingredients of everyday products, e.g. table salt, sugar, flour, water, coal, aluminum, copper, zinc, iron; designs and conducts experiments in which it examines selected properties of substances.

2) describes the states of matter;

3) explains what phenomena of diffusion, dissolution and change of state are.

General aim of education

The student lists and determines the properties of the substances tested.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• define the concept of substance

• show the division of substance properties;

• investigate and describe the properties of selected substances.

Methods/techniques

• activating

  • discussion.

• expository

  • talk.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Introduction

1. The teacher hands out Methodology Guide or green, yellow and red sheets of paper to the students to be used during the work based on a traffic light technique. He presents the aims of the lesson in the student's language on a multimedia presentation and discusses the criteria of success (aims of the lesson and success criteria can be send to students via e‑mail or posted on Facebook, so that students will be able to manage their portfolio).

2. The teacher together with the students determines the topic – based on the previously presented lesson aims – and then writes it on the interactive whiteboard/blackboard. Students write the topic in the notebook.

3. Health and safety – before starting the experiments, students familiarise themselves with the safety data sheets of the substances that will be used during the lesson. The teacher points out the need to be careful when working with them.

Realization

1. The teacher asks sudents to follow the task # 1. Students give the use of various substances used in everyday life and make conclusions about the impact of the substance's characteristics on their use. Then they discuss and verify them together.

2. Students, working in pairs, carry out the „Experience 1”, completing the observation form in the abstract. Participants share the insights made during the experiment and then formulate conclusions together. The teacher corrects possible mistakes.

3. Then the teacher recommends: „Remind yourself from the lessons of nature, from which the world around us is built.” Students provide suggestions and verify them with the teacher. Should answer „From matter” – the teacher asks you to define this concept.

4. The teacher presents and discusses the photo gallery. Students analyze the illustrations and answer the teacher's questions.

5. The teacher asks students whether the properties of the substance can be divided into different groups. The students give their suggestions, and the teacher complements them and explains the division of properties of the substance into physical and chemical as well as quantitative and qualitative. Ask students to give examples of properties of such properties – displays an interactive board (task 3).

6. Students carry out the interactive exercises checking the level of knowledge learned during the lesson. The teacher initiates a discussion during which the correct solutions for all the exercises performed by the students are discussed.

Summary

1. The teacher asks the students to finish the following sentences:

   • Today I learned ...

   • I understood that …

   • It surprised me …

   • I found out ...

   The teacher can use the interactive whiteboard in the abstract or instruct students to work with it

2. The teacher displays the criteria for success and asks the students to assess their skills acquired during the classes.

Homework

1. Make at home a note from the lesson using the sketchnoting method.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Properties of the substances

In everyday language substances are elements of nature that surround us, e.g. water, air, wood in the fireplace, and spices used in the kitchen. However, this is not a correct term with regards to chemistry. Substance is the type of matter with a constant chemical composition, with a set of specific properties, due to which we can recognize it.

Substances are: sugar, rock salt, iron, oxygen, pure water so‑called distilled water (in contrast to sea water or tap water).

The usefulness of objects is related to the properties of the materials of which these are made. Structural elements are made of high strength materials. Pots are made of materials that conduct heat well, and handles – from insulators protecting against burns. Good and bad heat conduction are the properties of matter that affect its use. Some features can be measured, others only described. Measurements are made under the same conditions (at room temperature and under normal pressure), which makes it possible to compare results.

All substances have specific properties. We can examine them with senses (e.g. to see, hear, smell) or with special instruments, which allows us to distinguish a given substance from another one. The properties of the substance can be divided into:

• qualitative – those that cannot be expressed in numbers (e.g. taste, smell);

• quantitative – those that can be measured and described by numbers (e.g., density, boiling point, melting point).

and:

• The world consists of various substances that have a permanent composition and specific properties.

• Substances can be identified based on their properties.

• The application of substances result from their characteristic properties, both physical and chemical (e.g. sugar is sweet, therefore we use it for sweetening, carbon dioxide does not support combustion, so it is used as a fire extinguisher in some types of fire extinguishers).

Properties of the substances, physical properties