Atoms Bonding and Radioactivity — A Bundle of Science Labs

This collection of labs will help you teach a unit on Atoms, Bonding, and Radioactivity from an investigative perspective.

Labs are the best part of science! When students start with the scientific phenomena, they’re intrigued and excited to dig deeper into the why’s and how’s of each scientific concept. But planning experiments can be an exhausting job. Finding great labs (and great instructions for those labs) can help this process immensely.

Each lab is beautifully illustrated and well laid out—they’re easy to use from the very first page. They’re written directly to students, which means that kids can be in charge of their own learning and you’ll be freed to teach. There are helpful tips throughout the experiments and the Teacher Notes section will leave you in no doubt about how to perform or understand an experiment.

Use this resource reinforce answers to questions such as:

❑ What does the column number on the periodic table convey?

❑ What does the row number on the periodic table convey?

❑ Where are the metals located on the periodic table?

❑ How can you tell ions apart?

❑ What can be the same about two different ions? What is always different?

❑ What's the maximum charge an ion can carry? The minimum?

❑ How do ions match up?

❑ Can an element make ions with different charges?

❑ What's similar about ions with the same charge?

❑ What causes the charge on an ion?

❑ When is an ion negative? Positive?

❑ How is covalent bonding different from ionic bonding?

❑ What's the maximum number of bonds one atom can make?

❑ What types of covalent bonds beyond single bonds can an atom make?

❑ How can one element turn into a different element?

❑ Which of the atomic particles define an element?

❑ What is the difference between alpha and beta radiation?

❑ What is the measure of half-life of an isotope?

❑ Which elements have a half-life?

❑ How can we visualize what's happening in nuclear decay?

Concepts Addressed

♦ The atoms of any one element are different from the atoms of other elements.

♦ There are more than 100 elements.

♦ Typically elements in the same column have the same number of outer electrons.

♦ Elements in the same row have the same number of shells or orbits.

♦ Ions have charges ranging from -4 to +4

♦ Different ions can have the same number of electrons but their numbers of protons will differ

♦ Atoms of the same element may differ in their numbers of electrons (making them ions) or neutrons (making them isotopes)

♦ Ions are not neutral but will pair with other ions so that their charges cancel

♦ Ions don't exist in isolation but typically in connection with other (oppositely charged) ions.

♦ Opposite charges of ions attract and bind them together into compounds

♦ Atoms may join together to form well-defined molecules.

♦ When electrons are shared (covalent bonds) neutral molecules result

♦ Some elements share (rather than transfer) electrons to stabilize their outer shells

♦ When an atom gives up particles during nuclear decayit changes into a different element

♦ An atom's number of protons defines which element it is.

♦ Half-life is the time it takes for half of a sample to transform into different element(s)

Student Sheets   Scaffolded writing prompts & lab reporting 

Answer Keys and Teacher Notes address most questions and issues that might arise in this study—you shouldn’t have to do any outside research unless you want to.

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