Sample Activity 1
(Part I Atomic Inventory and Classification of Matter)
Students will read the chapter on Carbon in Primo Levi's Periodic Table using the following as a guide.
Pre-reading
- Research the carbon cycle and draw a diagram that represents the role of respiration of plants and animals,
photosynthesis, decomposition of dead organisms, decomposition of limestone, venting of volcanoes, and dissolving
in ocean.
- What is the chemical formula for limestone and where did it come from?
- What does it mean for a compound to decompose?
- What is the chemical formula for glucose?
- Draw the structure of how the carbon and hydrogen atoms are connected in a glucose molecule.
- What does it mean to be oxidized?
During Reading
1. Compile a list of new words that you are unsure of their meaning and write their definitions.
After Reading
- Using your diagram of the carbon cycle that you prepared during pre-reading, label your diagram with how Mr. Levi described some of the stages of the cycle.
- How has reading this piece changed the way that you think about an atom of carbon?
- Research another element that is abundant in the Earth's crust, atmosphere, or oceans. Use what you learned about that element to write a story (2 page minimum) about the "life" of that atom. While preparing to write your story, brainstorm on how an atom of that element might "feel" depending on its physical and chemical properties and what types of experiences it may have had.
Comments: