The Elegant Atom

When scientists are amazed at the power of a simple idea to explain an incredibly complex phenomenon, they call it "elegant," and today's Big Idea, the Atomic Model, is extraordinary Elegance, wrapped in Powerful Complexity, glimmering with Explanatory Wisdom, and reeking Smart.

Though the idea is big, Atoms, made of protons, neutrons and electrons, are very, very, very small.  Just how small are they?  Watch this: Just How Small Is an Atom?

Now take one of the ideas in the video and make a cartoon/illustration/picture of it, with a caption explaining.  ["If every atom in a grapefruit were the size of a blueberry, the grapefruit would be the size of the Earth."] This goes in your lab journal. You may draw more than one.  5 pts. each.



Now back to Brainpop.com (thank you, Danny, for figuring out my mistake last week.  Log in with username - pcshome and password - ilearnathome  )   http://www.brainpop.com/science/matterandchemistry/atoms/   Watch the movie Atoms, take the quiz, do the activity worksheets (you can type on the page and then print, or you can print out the pages and then write in the answers, as you prefer.)  FYI is optional.  Do you remember learning some of this in history class? 25 PTS


Remember the Pumpkins!  Now is the time to catch up on the Great Pumpkin project.  See instruction sheet on the sidebar, and look at your class notes.  Don't forget to:
-Set aside space in your lab books, at least 5-8 pages.
-Carve your pumpkin, and put it in an outdoor location.
-Record your initial observations, as we discussed.
-Take a photo.
-Keep recording your observations, questions, hypothesis, ideas of what is going on, in your lab books, at least twice a week for the next two months, or until it is "all gone".   Make drawings of the organisms that you find growing or crawling or whatever, around the pumpkin, and bring in samples to look at under the microscope.

ON THURSDAY> BRING IN THE MODELS OF THE ATOM THAT YOU MADE IN CLASS AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO LEARN ABOUT ATOMS.