Unit Summary
First-year chemistry students learn the basics of chemical reactions, and then dig deeper to produce unique multimedia demonstrations that will be used in an educational instructional video for a cable channel. Microscaled investigations are presented, allowing students to study many reactions safely in a short period of time. Small groups of students are assigned one of five basic chemical changes (synthesis, decomposition, single displacement, double displacement, or combustion) to investigate further. After careful consideration, each student selects one reaction and microscaled demonstration that best illustrates the particular reaction, and develops a slideshow presentation that can be used in the final class video. As a final assessment, students are given a unique "recipe" for a set of reactants, and they are asked to identify the reaction type and the products that are likely to result.

Curriculum-Framing Questions

• Essential Question
  What causes change?
• Unit Questions
  How do patterns allow us to predict chemical reactions and their products?
  How do chemical reactions affect everyday life?
• Content Questions
  What is a chemical reaction?
  How does chemical change occur?
  How can you tell if a change is chemical or physical?

Assessment Processes
View how a variety of student-centered assessments are used in the Lights, Camera, Reaction! Unit Plan. These assessments help students and teachers set goals; monitor student progress; provide feedback; assess thinking, processes, performances, and products; and reflect on learning throughout the learning cycle.

Instructional Procedures
Prior to Instruction
Send the Using Projects brochure home to introduce parents to the projects students will complete during the upcoming year.

Session 1: Assess Prior Knowledge
Introduce the project with the Essential Question, What causes change? Prepare a slideshow of various pictures that demonstrate physical change (such as fall colors, volcanoes erupting, fireworks, landfills, and so forth). Have students share evidence that change has taken place in the pictures. Lead the discussion so that students discern chemical changes versus physical changes. Conduct a demonstration of the Oscillating Reaction*. Ask students to write down an explanation for what they see taking place. As a pretest, ask students to spend 5 minutes writing answers to the following Content Questions:

• What is a chemical reaction?
• How does chemical change occur? 
• How can you tell if a change is chemical or physical?

Ask the questions again at the end of this unit to measure new understanding.

Session 2: Foundation Knowledge
Explain the fundamental features of chemical change, and describe how it differs from physical change. Use the many video downloads and slideshows listed in the resources section to deliver instruction on the five types of chemical reactions (synthesis, decomposition, single displacement, double displacement, and combustion) and the six signs that suggest chemical reactions have occurred (emission or absorption of heat, emission of light, formation of a solid, formation of a gas, color change, and odor).

Explain that in its most basic sense, a chemical reaction is an event in which atoms rearrange themselves and bind together in new ways. Sometimes, this involves a single substance, such as when three oxygen molecules rearrange their atoms to form two ozone molecules, or 2 O3, or it can involve two or more substances, such as when an acid and a base combine to form salt and water as follows: 

HCl + NaOH --> NaCl + H2O

Explain that chemical reactions can either take in or give out energy when the atoms rearrange themselves. When oxygen is converted to ozone, it takes in the energy supplied by sunlight. When an acid reacts with a base resulting in salt and water, it gives out energy as heat. A reaction that takes in energy is endothermic, and a reaction that gives out energy is exothermic.

Session 3: Explore
Set up stations in the classroom in which students complete a microscale investigation on each type of chemical reaction. Investigations and how to set them up can be found online at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln* Web site. Post reaction types, instructions, and safety guidelines. After students have completed each station, have students complete a summary for each investigation. Use the responses to the summary questions to gauge their understanding of chemical reactions. Discuss the Content and Unit Questions, How can you tell if a change is chemical or physical? and How do patterns allow us to predict chemical reactions and their products?

Session 4: Equations
Teach students about equations. Equations show:

• Reactants that enter into a reaction
• Products formed by the reaction
• Amounts of each substance used
• Each substance produced by the reaction

Make sure the preceding points are made, and provide many examples and opportunities for practice.

Allow time for students to learn more and practice their skills by interpreting, writing, and balancing equations in tutorials at SciLink NSTA*. Have students do their work in their science journals and check their journals frequently to assess their understanding.

Session 5: Lights, Camera…
Introduce the scenario that a local cable channel would like to hire a group to produce an educational instructional video to air during National Chemistry Week (October). Explain that each group is assigned one of the reaction types. Each group then produces a student slideshow that is informative and keeps the attention of the audience. Assign advanced students to be “directors” and “producers” to compile all the group projects onto one DVD. Divide students into groups and assign one reaction type to each group (if the class is large, assign reaction types to more than one group). Using print and electronic sources, students study one reaction type and answer the following questions:

• What are the features of the chemical reaction? 
• What patterns allow you to predict the reaction and its products? 
• What variety of substances can be combined to result in the reaction? 
• What are some everyday examples of the reaction?
• How do chemical reactions affect everyday life?

Teach students how to develop their presentation from a plan. The reaction project instructions and checklist and slideshow rubric serve as guides. 

Sessions 6 Through 9: Look Deeper
Have student groups research an everyday example of their type of chemical reaction and prepare a demonstration or experiment on the topic. Encourage students to explore topics that are relevant to their lives and impact society in some way (such as waste management, fireworks, and so forth). Students can use the University of Nebraska-Lincoln* Web site for interesting and safe microscaled examples of reaction types. After students deliberate about which example best illustrates a reaction type, have them submit a proposal that includes the following:

• Description of the microscale demonstration  
• Rationale for the choice 
• Preparation and material requirements 
• Detailed procedures, including safety measures 
• Citations

Provide work time for groups to proceed with implementation of their lab demonstration and to create their slideshow presentations. When the demonstrations are perfected, have students use a still or video camera to capture important parts of the process to hyperlink to their presentations.

Session 10: Teach Others
Have students share their presentations. Presentations should last from 5 to 10 minutes with another 5 minutes reserved for fielding questions from the group. Assess students as they present their projects using the slideshow rubric.

Session 11: Prove It
In preparation for assessment, students can learn more and hone their skills at this Five Reactions Practice* Web site. Ask students to write answers to the following questions, which were posed at the start of this unit of study:

• What is a chemical reaction?  
• How does chemical change occur?
• How can you tell if a change is chemical or physical? 

Administer the reaction quiz to test students' skills in recognizing reaction patterns and predicting the products of a chemical reaction. A key is provided.

Note: The unit Composting: Why Bother? is a good companion to this unit in which to explore chemical reactions as they pertain to society’s waste management procedures.

Prerequisite Skills

• Prior science courses involving discrete experiments

Differentiated Instruction
Special Needs Student

• Design specific slideshow templates
• Monitor progress with additional check-in dates and custom forms  
• Select a reaction type that best fits the student’s level  
• Select specific Web sites for research 
• Give the student extra time and individual instruction 
• Shorten lab assignments  
• Accept help from support personnel or volunteers 
• Reduce the number of concepts needed to master 
• Pair the student with a buddy

Gifted/Talented Student

• Require the student to give more reaction type examples and compounds with formulas 
• Require the presentation to be more in-depth and use additional technology 
• Have the student study an independent topic or perform more complex experiments on a reaction type 
• Have the student be a “director” or “producer” of the final DVD that compiles and edits all presentations into one format

Nonnative Speaker 

• Provide a slideshow template, example slideshow, and modified lab directions 
• Provide a first -language periodic table of the elements from the Internet 
• Provide electronic translation devices 
• Provide English/first language translation dictionaries 
• Allow the student to study science concepts with an ESL assistant during supplemental instruction outside of class 
• Pair the student with others during project work when the language load indicates a need, but require the student to complete visual parts of the project independently 
• Allow the student to prepare materials in the student’s first language and have it translated later

Teresa Kelley participated in the Intel® Teach Program, which resulted in this idea for a classroom project. A team of teachers expanded the plan into the example you see here.