PhET Balancing Chemical Equations Activity Guide

Now includes both printable PDF and Google Slides versions!

The PhET: Balancing Chemical Equations Activity Guide is used along with the free *Next Generation PhET Simulation on Balancing Chemical Equations. First, students will view a short introductory video. Then, they will use the simulator to balance three basic chemical equations; Make Ammonia, Separate Water, and Combust Methane.

Your students will hit the ground running without the need for a lengthy introduction from you. Just print the activity guide or share from your Google Drive. Students can watch the intro video and away they go. The best part is that they don’t even know they are learning, they just think they are having fun!

The activity guide takes students through both parts of the simulation; Introduction and The Game. The final section of the lesson, Try It On Your Own, challenges students to expand on what they have learned. Students will learn:

• to balance a chemical equation.
• to recognize that the number of atoms of each element is conserved in a chemical reaction.
• to describe the difference between coefficients and subscripts in a chemical equation.
• to recognize both symbolic to molecular representations of matter.

The activity guide includes both PDF and Google Slides versions for printing worksheets or sharing via Google Drive or Google Classroom. This lesson is perfect for face to face, hybrid, or remote learning!

This product includes the Activity Guide (pdf), Activity Guide (Google Slides), Answer Key (pdf), and a Getting Started Guide for teachers.

*PhET simulations are fun, interactive, research-based simulations of physical phenomena. As students interact with the simulation, they get immediate feedback about the affects of the changes they made. All PhET simulations are freely available from the PhET website (phet.colorado.edu) and are easy to use and incorporate into the classroom. The new Next Generation sims utilize HTML 5 which allows them to run in any modern web browser on most devices including Chromebooks and tablets like the iPad! Learn more about using PhET Simulations with your students.