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Chemistry. Students answer the questions, "What causes lightning and why are some places safer than others when it strikes?" This unit is designed to help students build a deeper understanding of atomic structure and atomic-scale force interactions through exploration of phenomena surrounding lightning and other static interactions. Kit includes basic teacher access to instructional materials on CarolinaScienceOnline.com, plus enough materials to teach 1 class of 32 students per day.

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Chemistry. In Chemistry 2: Structure & Properties of Matter, Carolina Certified Version*, students work to answer the Unit Driving Question: "What causes lightning, and why are some places safer than others when it strikes?"

This unit is anchored by students noticing patterns in videos of lightning, lightning stories, and data about lightning strikes. In Lesson Set 1 (Lessons 1-5), students figure out the interactions cause lightning-like phenomena. They learn about the subatomic structure of an atom and initial ideas about charge and electrostatic forces. In Lesson Set 2 (Lessons 6-9), students figure out how the physical science ideas they developed in prior lessons apply to lightning. They develop Coulomb's law and ideas about induced polarization. In Lesson Set 3 (Lessons 10-11), students explore how so much energy, manifested as thunder and flashes of light, is transferred in lightning. Finally, in Lesson Set 4, students investigate why certain materials and places are safer than others when lightning strikes. They figure out how the molecular structure of matter leads to macroscopic properties of materials, such as the conduction of electricity through metals and the dissolving of salts in water.

Throughout the unit, students will:

• Develop and use models to explain why lightning happens and why some places are safer than others when it strikes.
• Experiment with various materials to produce and analyze static interactions.
• Use simulations and other methods to model subatomic particles: electrons, protons, neutrons, as well as energy transfers that occur between particles within electric fields.
• Experimentally develop the mathematical relationship between variables in Coulomb's law: magnitude of charge, distance, and forces between charged particles.
• Obtain and communicate information about subatomic structure, static interactions within a cloud, and the effects of lightning on living things.
• Carry out investigations to determine how increasing the concentration of salt in water affects the rate of charges flowing through it and evaluate different models to determine which best explains the results.

This 1-Class Unit Kit comes with basic teacher access to instructional materials on CarolinaScienceOnline.com, plus the materials needed for a teacher to teach 1 class of 32 students per day.

Building Toward NGSS Performance Expectations (PEs)

• HS-PS1-1**: Use the periodic table as a model to predict the relative properties of elements based on the patterns of electrons in the outermost energy level of atoms.
• HS-PS1-3**: Plan and conduct an investigation to gather evidence to compare the structure of substances at the bulk scale to infer the strength of electrical forces between particles.
• HS-PS2-4†: Use mathematical representations of Newton's Law of Gravitation and Coulomb's Law to describe and predict the gravitational and electrostatic forces between objects.
• HS-PS2-6**: Communicate scientific and technical information about why the molecular-level structure is important in the functioning of designed materials.
• HS-PS3-2†: Develop and use models to illustrate that energy at the macroscopic scale can be accounted for as a combination of energy associated with the motion of particles (objects) and energy associated with the relative positions of particles (objects).
• HS-PS3-5†: Develop and use a model of two objects interacting through electric or magnetic fields to illustrate the forces between objects and the changes in energy of the objects due to the interaction.

Focal Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs)

• Developing and Using Models
• Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Focal Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs)

• PS1.A: Structure and Properties of Matter
• PS2.B: Types of Interactions
• PS3.A: Definitions of Energy
• PS3.C: Relationship Between Energy and Forces

Focal Crosscutting Concepts

• Patterns
• Scale, Proportion, and Quantity

*All enhancements to materials and instruction for this Carolina Certified Version of the unit are approved by OpenSciEd® to preserve the integrity of the storyline and the instructional model.