Subtopic: The Atomic Basis of the Properties of Matter

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Resource	Grade Level	Media Type
Atmospheric Pressure Did you know that air has weight? This illustrated essay from the NOVA Web site explores conditions that affect air density and atmospheric pressure.	6-12	HTML Document
Atom Builder Build a carbon atom out of up quarks, down quarks, and electrons in this interactive activity from the NOVA Web site.	6-12	Shockwave Interactive
Bend, Twist and Break: Beyond the Laboratory Dr. Chris Muhlstein explains that when scientists study fracture surfaces from controlled experiments to understand the resulting shapes and features, they can use their understanding to deduce what happened when they were not around to see the material fail or break. Further they can predict what will have to a larger or smaller piece of material under stress. This process is how scientists and engineers translate a lab experiment into a design for an airplane, bridge or even a bike frame.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Bend, Twist and Break: Breaking Glass Dr. Chris Muhlstein explains that researchers learn about the scientific basis for failure of materials by running experiments in the lab, using a simple shape like a glass rod to calculate the strength of material and predict its failure. The same tests can be done at the micro and nano scale using tiny specimens. Students can run a similar experiment with a bar of chocolate.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Bend, Twist and Break: Fracture Surfaces Dr. Chris Muhlstein explains that fracture surfaces can reveal how and why a material has failed. An image of a fracture surface has features or shapes that we can use to understand where a material failed and why. Scientists use an optical microscope or a scanning electron microscope to read a fracture surface at high magnifications, much like we read maps to find our way.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Bend, Twist and Break: The Bridge Dr. Chris Muhlstein explains that the arrangement of atoms in a material determines the properties. He drops an iPod to illustrate how the arrangement of atoms can protect it from damage; he narrates footage of the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in the 1940s to show how the deformation of materials can cause the collapse of a structure.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Birth of a Supernova, Type Ia In this interactive activity from NOVA Online, learn about a type of exploding star — a Type Ia supernova — that is so bright that astronomers can measure the distance to the galaxy in which it resides, and even learn which elements make up the star.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Birth of a Supernova, Type II In this interactive activity from NOVA Online, learn about a type of exploding star — a Type II supernova — that is so large it has a mass 10 times greater than the mass of our Sun.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Breaking Things on Purpose *Materials such as metals (aluminum, iron, copper, etc.), ceramics (silicon carbide, porcelain) or polymers (milk jugs made of polyethylene) are tested by scientists and engineers to reveal certain mechanical properties such as the maximum stress a material can withstand. The stress at which a material breaks is a measure of its strength. In this lesson you will be testing the strength of a delicious material you know as chocolate!	9-12	Lesson Plan
Build a Steroid In this interactive activity from NOVA, learn about the molecular structure of steroids. See the intermediate molecules that are part of the pathway for synthesizing cortisone from diosgenin.	9-12	Flash Interactive
Building Blocks of Matter Structure of matter.	6-8	Lesson Plan
Carbon Cycle Diagram This diagram from NASA's Earth Science Enterprise illustrates Earth's carbon cycle.	6-12	JPEG Image
Chernobyl: What Really Happened? This text excerpted from Richard Rhodes' book, Nuclear Renewal and reprinted on the FRONTLINE Web site examines the causes of the Chernobyl accident.	6-12	HTML Document
The Dating Game: Radioactive Carbon In this media-rich essay from the NOVA Web site, learn about the atomic structure of radioactive carbon and how it can be used to determine the age of organic remains, such as bones and teeth.	6-12	Shockwave Document
Diamonds: The Science Behind the Sparkle This illustrated essay from the NOVA Web site explains why the atomic structure of a diamond slows down light and produces a sparkle more brilliant than from any other colorless substance.	6-12	HTML Document
Disappearing Milk A magician pours milk into a glass, but when he turns the glass upside down, nothing comes out. How does he do it? Discover the science behind the "magic" in this video adapted from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.	4-12	Flash Interactive
Discovering Air Our understanding about the air we breathe has changed dramatically through time. This illustrated timeline from the NOVA Web site tracks the changing thought on air and the creation of the Periodic Table of the Elements.	6-12	HTML Document
Dissolving Salts in Water In this interactive activity adapted from Iowa State University, design and carry out an experiment: dissolve salts in water, see how different ionic compounds produce different reactions, and observe the resulting changes in temperature.	8-12	Flash Interactive
Elements of Steel This resource from the AMERICAN EXPERIENCE Web site, which contains both an interactive activity and illustrated text, looks at the composition of different types of steel and their impact on technology.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Everyday Radiation How much radiation are we exposed to every day? Find out in this video segment adapted from FRONTLINE.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Facts About Radiation This document from the FRONTLINE Web site offers examples of everyday exposure to radiation.	6-12	HTML Document
FAQs About Nuclear Power Nuclear physicist, Dr. Charles Till, answers questions about nuclear power in this interview from the FRONTLINE Web site.	6-12	HTML Document
Fission and Reprocessing: How They Work This video-enhanced document from the FRONTLINE Web site explains how nuclear fission and nuclear reprocessing work.	6-12	HTML Document
Floating and Sinking: Hot Air Balloons Why do hot air balloons float? This resource from the NOVA Web site offers a series of interactive activities that illustrates the physics of hot air balloons.	6-12	Shockwave Interactive
Fusion: Testing the First Hydrogen Device This video segment adapted from AMERICAN EXPERIENCE features original footage of the U.S. test of the first hydrogen device, code-named "Mike", that would trigger thermonuclear fusion.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Fusion: The Hydrogen Bomb Just after World War II, nuclear scientists turned their attention from fission to fusion. This video segment adapted from AMERICAN EXPERIENCE looks at the beginnings of thermonuclear power generation.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Get Close to a Nuclear Fission Reaction! Learn how scientists regulate a nuclear reactor in this animation-enhanced essay from the FRONTLINE Web site.	6-12	HTML Document
Global Warming and The Greenhouse Effect This video excerpt from Race to Save the Planet discusses the greenhouse effect and global warming.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Global Warming: Beyond Fossil Fuels Martin Hoffert, professor of physics at New York University, discusses global warming and alternative energies in this interview from the NOVA/FRONTLINE Web site.	6-12	HTML Document
Global Warming: Graphs Tell the Story Examine these graphs from the NOVA/ FRONTLINE Web site to see dramatic increases in the temperature of Earth's surface and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.	6-12	HTML Document
History of the Universe This interactive timeline from the NOVA Web site recaps the theoretical origin and formation of the universe, and forecasts its eventual fate.	6-12	Shockwave Interactive
How Hard is Chocolate? Hardness is probably a concept you are well familiar with. You already know that certain materials are harder than others; in fact, you prove it everyday when you chew your food and your teeth don’t break (because your teeth are harder than the foods you chew). Hardness can be defined as a material's ability to resist a change in shape. Modern hardness testers take a well-defined shape and press it into a material with a certain force, observing the indent it leaves in the material when it is removed. In this lesson, you will be performing hardness testing on different bars of chocolate.	9-12	Lesson Plan
The Impact of Technology: Nylon This video segment adapted from A Science Odyssey looks at the invention of nylon.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Ionic Bonding In this interactive activity from ChemThink, learn how ionic bonds are formed and how an ionic bond structure is represented by its formula.	9-12	Flash Interactive
Island of Stability In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, follow scientists in their quest to understand how stable elements are made and how to create the elusive element 114.	9-12	QuickTime Video
Making Cortisone From Plants This video segment adapted from NOVA is a dramatized story of chemist Percy Julian’s work to synthesize cortisone. Find out how a biological process, not a chemical one, proved the key to producing cortisone in bulk.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Measuring Bond Energy of an Ionic Compound In this media-rich lesson, students investigate bond energy and the law of conservation of energy. They examine the chemistry behind instant cold packs by using a calorimeter to study the endothermic dissociation of ammonium chloride in water.	9-12	Lesson Plan
Mechanical Properties of Chocolate: How Hard is your Chocolate? Hardness is probably a concept you are well familiar with. You already know that certain materials are harder than others; in fact, you prove it everyday when you chew your food and your teeth don’t break (because your teeth are harder than the foods you chew). Hardness can be defined as a material's ability to resist a change in shape. Modern hardness testers take a well-defined shape and press it into a material with a certain force, observing the indent it leaves in the material when it is removed. In this lesson, you will be performing hardness testing on different bars of chocolate.	6-8	Lesson Plan
Mechanical Properties of Chocolate: How Strong is your Chocolate? *Materials such as metals (aluminum, iron, copper, etc.), ceramics (silicon carbide, porcelain) or polymers (milk jugs made of polyethylene) are tested by scientists and engineers to reveal certain mechanical properties such as the maximum stress a material can withstand. The stress at which a material breaks is a measure of its strength. In this lesson you will be testing the strength of a delicious material you know as chocolate!	6-8	Lesson Plan
Melissa Franklin: High Energy Physics This video segment adapted from Discovering Women profiles Fermilab physicist and Harvard professor Melissa Franklin.	9-12	QuickTime Video
A Nanotube Space Elevator In this video adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, find out about the discovery of a new building material, the carbon nanotube, whose physical properties could theoretically enable the creation of a 22,000-mile elevator to space.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Nature's Pharmacy In this interactive activity from NOVA, learn about chemicals in nature that are used in medicine.	3-12	Flash Interactive
Nuclear Blast Damage This illustrated document from the AMERICAN EXPERIENCE Web site examines the "zones of destruction" caused by nuclear weapons.	6-12	HTML Document
Nuclear Blast Footage These video clips from the AMERICAN EXPERIENCE Web site feature actual footage of thermonuclear blast testing done in the 1950s.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Nuclear Reaction: Fission This video segment adapted from FRONTLINE looks at nuclear fission as an energy source that can be used to generate electricity.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Nuclear Reaction: Meltdown What happens when a nuclear reactor overheats? This video segment adapted from FRONTLINE looks at the nuclear reactor meltdown at Chernobyl, the worst accident of its kind.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Nuclear Reaction: Plutonium One by-product of nuclear fission is plutonium. This video segment adapted from FRONTLINE takes a look at this toxic element.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Nuclear Reaction: Searching for Safety This text excerpted from Beyond Engineering: How Society Shapes Technology by Robert Pool and reprinted on the FRONTLINE Web site looks at the impact of nuclear power.	6-12	HTML Document
Nuclear Reaction: Three Mile Island This video segment adapted from AMERICAN EXPERIENCE examines the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Nuclear Waste: Yucca Mountain What happens to nuclear waste? This video segment adapted from FRONTLINE explores the controversy surrounding the United States' first nuclear repository site.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Particulate Nature of Matter In this interactive activity from ChemThink, examine the basic properties of matter at an atomic level and consider how various atoms affect the way a substance behaves.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Periodic Table of the Elements This interactive periodic table developed for Teachers' Domain provides detailed information about the chemical properties of elements and illustrates the electron configurations that determine those characteristics.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Quarks: Inside the Atom This video segment adapted from NOVA shows how the particle accelerator helped physicists find parts of the atom even smaller than protons and neutrons.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Radiation: To Worry or Not to Worry Students explore the many types of radiation and distinguish safe forms of radiation from those that are dangerous.	6-12	Lesson Plan
Radiometric Dating In this video segment from A Science Odyssey, scientists explain how Earth's age was determined by examining the radioactive rocks in Earth's crust.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Radon Radiation The biggest source of environmental radiation might be in your home. Find out more in this video segment adapted from FRONTLINE.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Ringed-Carbon Compounds In this interactive activity adapted from NOVA, learn about alkaloids and steroids, both examples of compounds with carbon rings. Short videos with interviews, animations, and photographs are featured.	9-12	Flash Interactive
Scientific Processes In this interactive activity adapted from NOVA, expand your understanding of the scientific process. Watch two videos featuring animations and interviews with scientists, and notice how the processes unfold and vary from one investigation to the other.	9-12	Flash Interactive
Smart Bridges In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, learn about engineering innovations that could help detect a bridge's structural weaknesses before they become dangerous.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Snowflake Physics Explore the science behind snowflake formation by examining water molecule structure and other conditions that affect snowflake growth in this interactive activity adapted from SnowCrystals.com.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Sources of Radiation This interactive activity from the NOVA Web site explores sources of radiation, both harmful and beneficial, natural and manmade.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Stories in the Ice Take a journey back through time, on the NOVA/FRONTLINE Web site, using ice cores to learn about Earth's climatic history, including evidence of global warming and nuclear activity.	6-12	HTML Document
String Theory: A Sense of Scale This interactive activity from the NOVA Web site puts the infinitesimally small world of string theory into perspective.	6-12	Flash Interactive
String Theory: Elementary Particles This interactive activity from the NOVA Web site looks at the fundamental forces and particles that make up all matter.	6-12	Flash Interactive
String Theory: Gravity - The Odd Man Out This video segment from NOVA describes the discovery in the 1930s of two forces in addition to electromagnetism: the strong nuclear force and the weak nuclear force.	9-12	QuickTime Video
The Structure of Materials Structure of matter.	9-12	Lesson Plan
The Structure of Metal In this interactive activity from the NOVA Web site, animations explain different aspects of the properties of metal.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Synthesizing an Alkaloid In this video segment, adapted from NOVA, learn how chemist Percy Julian revolutionized chemistry by synthesizing the alkaloid physostigmine from scratch—the first total synthesis of a chemical compound.	9-12	QuickTime Video
Synthesizing a Steroid This video segment, adapted from NOVA, tells the story of chemist Percy Julian's quest to make progesterone from a plant steroid, an important medical advancement of the 1940s.	9-12	QuickTime Video
Test Yourself: How Panic Proof Are You? Test how panic proof you are by taking this 1953 atomic attack panic quiz from the AMERICAN EXPERIENCE Web site.	6-12	HTML Interactive
Three Mile Island: What Happened This interactive activity from the AMERICAN EXPERIENCE Web site looks at the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history.	6-12	Shockwave Interactive
What Holds a Molecule Together? This video/animation illustrates that a molecule is a small group of atoms that is stuck or bonded together with electrons. Dr. Chris Muhlstein introduces the idea of three primary types of bonds: ionic, covalent and metallic; animations show how they form at the atomic level, and give everyday examples	9-12	QuickTime Video
What is a Molecule? This video/animation shows that a molecule of water is made up of oxygen and hydrogen atoms. When oxygen and hydrogen atoms exist alone, their properties are different from the properties they have when they are chemically combined to form a water molecule	6-12	QuickTime Video
Your Carbon Diet Find out how much energy you use and some ways to conserve in this interactive activity from the NOVA/FRONTLINE Web site.	3-12	Shockwave Interactive

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Subtopic: The Atomic Basis of the Properties of Matter