Summary

Why does chemistry matter in my life? These lessons address this question and are designed to be used throughout the high school course and support the North Carolina standard course of study objectives in chemistry. Each lesson presents a problem to the student that they will endeavor to answer using a variety of activities. These activities may be modified to suit the needs of your students. The problems are intended to generate student interest so they will be more likely to engage in the lesson. For example, Problem #2 provides those students that are creative and enjoy writing with an opportunity to use these talents as they create a short story. While some lessons contain multiple activities, it is possible to use parts of the lesson even if you are unable to use the entire lesson. You will find that Problem #1 includes a lab to make gold nanoparticles. If you are unable to obtain the required chemicals, you can still use the My Nanoparticle Ad activity to expose students to the many products that contain nanoparticles. Some lessons are more challenging than other. If you have an advanced group of students that need a challenge, I’d suggest Problem #3. If you are looking for lessons that incorporate an engineering perspective, try Problems #3 or #6. Problems #2 and #7 allow your creative students to shine. Try these lessons, modify them to suit your needs and contact the author with any ideas or questions.