Overview
This curriculum unit, entitled "The Origin of the Elements", is intended for eleventh grade students enrolled in my chemistry classes who attend an inner city Philadelphia public high school. It will be used in conjunction with unit three of the School District of Philadelphia's standardized curriculum for chemistry. As outlined in the school district's Planning and Scheduling Timeline for Chemistry, the entire unit "Periodic Table and Periodic Trends" is meant to be completed within a three week period. During that time, the students will examine the role electrons play in chemical behavior, electron configuration, in addition to becoming familiar with the organization and uses of the periodic table. Although most high school textbooks briefly mention the occurrence and/or abundance of individual elements of interest on Earth, they rarely give any insight into the origin of the elements. Therefore, the aim of this unit is to present the students with a basic understanding of how the elements were formed. This will include current information on Big Bang also referred to as primordial, stellar and supernova nucleosynthesis. In doing so, the students will also be introduced to the history of the Big Bang and stellar evolution as a means of stimulating interest in astronomy and cosmology. To accomplish these goals, approximately six to eight days will be allocated for its completion. In addition, this unit will be in alignment with several of the Pennsylvania Academic Standards for Science and Technology, including standards: 3.1.12 "Unifying Themes", 3.2.12 "Inquiry and Design", 3.4.12 "Physical Science, Chemistry, and Physics", and 3.7.12 "Technological Devices".
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