One Dimensional Atoms and The Atoms Family Song

We've jumped full force into our physical science unit. I must admit, last year I dreaded having to teach this unit to my students. I had made the jump from 3rd to 5th (I wanted a change and although 3rd grade will always have a special place in my heart...I love teaching 5th!) and it didn't occur to me that nowadays 5th graders learn this kinda stuff. I didn't learn about atoms and elements until I was in high school. So, I was wracking my brain on how I would teach some of these difficult (at least I think they can be) concepts.

This week I introduced the concept to my students. We used some readers to get some background info and then I played the  Bill Nye the Science Guy: Atoms video. They loved the video and were able to grasp the concept better with the visuals. Then I had my students make a one dimensional atom (next week they will be choosing an element and creating a 3D model). It was a pretty simple activity and I think it helped them to understand some of the vocabulary words and structure of an atom. I didn't do this with my students last year...I just had them go straight into making 3 dimensional models and some of them didn't quite grasp the concept.

Before they made their atom, I had them jot down some important information in their science journals in regards to atoms. They then chose an element from a list of seven preselected elements (I chose elements with smaller atomic numbers, more manageable that way. I can see one or two of my students choosing Radium and having to count out 88 protons.).

Not one of my best charted posters, it was done in haste :/

 

One little disclaimer for the atom models...the electrons are smaller than the protons and neutrons and should be represented as so. Of course, I only had one size of the beads. I know I have smaller ones somewhere. I searched high and low to no avail. I'm sure they will pop up at the end of the year when they are no longer needed. Anyways, I had a discussion with my kids in regards to how the electrons should be smaller, but we had to make do with what we had.

• I had the students cut large circle out of construction paper (next year I think I will have them precut for them).
• Then they collected the correct amount of protons, neutrons, and electrons. (Next year, I think I will give assigned colors for the protons, electrons, and neutrons. For example, all the protons are yellow, neutrons are green, and electrons blue. Just a thought...)
• Once the students glued their protons, electrons, and neutrons onto their atom, they needed to label the charge of the protons (+) and the electrons (-).
• They then added a little key and the name of the element.

                                       

 

Again, this was just a quick and simple activity to get them introduced to the concept. Next week they will be turning in their wanted posters and 3D atom models for the element they chose. Hopefully, I will blog about that before the school year ends. :)

 

Here are lyrics (I forgot to take a photo of my chart) to a cute song I sing with the kids. The first day, before we sing the song, we discuss if there are any words that are important or words they may need clarification on. I use highlighter tape and highlight the word. The next day, you can add photos to represent those words to the poster (those of you familiar with GLAD strategies will recognize this strategy). Then we sing our hearts out!



 

The Atoms Family

Sung to the tune of the Adam's Family theme song

 

They're tiny and they're teeny,
Much smaller then a beeny
They never can be seeny,
The Atoms Family.

They are so small.
(snap, snap)
They're round like a ball.
(snap,snap)
They make up the air.
They're everywhere.
Can't see them at all.
(snap, snap)

Together they make gases,
And liquids like molasses,
And all the solid masses,
The Atoms Family

(Chorus)

Neutrons can be found,
Where protons hang around;
Electrons they surround
The Atoms Family

(Chorus)

Prove It!

Linkin' up with Fourth Grade Flipper, for Tried it Tuesday. Of course I'm always late with this kinda stuff. I still don't know how you all do it! I seem to blog in ebbs and flows...

I came across a great common core math resource and it definitely makes my kids think! Megan Astor has come up with an activity she calls Prove It! She has made them for 2nd-5th grades...check out her TPT store. I love how the Prove It activities give the students an equation or word problem that has been "solved" and they need to prove the answer to be true or false and be able to explain why the answer is true or false. There have been a few that have really stumped my students, which I think is a good thing. It really makes them think about how they would go about solving the problem and so forth. I must say, it was rough in the beginning because they weren't used to getting problems that have been solved and having to prove it true or false. They really struggled with defending their reasoning, but it is getting better! I use the activity as a warm up activity before our daily math lesson. There are only 35 problems in the packet, so I am thinking of creating my own when I run out.

Since we are limited on copies at my school, I chart the Prove It problems on chart paper and have the students work it out in their math journals. I then ask a volunteer to come up to the charted problem and they explain their thinking process and  the steps to proving the answer true or false. They LOVE coming up and getting to be the "teacher" and write on the chart. :)