SC.912.P.8.3

The lesson is about the five scientists and their contributions to the theory of the atomic model. The scientists that we will study are John Dalton, J. J. Thompson, Ernest Rutherford and Niels Bohr. The students will also investigate what the present atomic model looks like and why the scientists have concluded that this is now the electron cloud model.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is a set of 8 stations (each station lasts 15-20 minutes) that students may complete individually or in small groups. The stations focus on the development of the atomic theory and introduce students to the concept of the subatomic particles, how they were discovered, and where they are located within the atom. The stations can be grouped together and used as one lesson for 2-3 consecutive days, or they can be split into smaller increments and used over the course of several lessons.

Type: Lesson Plan

Learn more about the atomic model and antimatter!

Download the CPALMS Perspectives video student note taking guide.

Type: Perspectives Video: Expert

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article explains how Avogadro's hypothesis, proposed prior to the publishing of Dalton's atomic theory, was initially rejected. But his hypothesis turned out to be the key to solving many problems facing chemistry in the 1800s. The article describes how the later acceptance of his original idea changed the subject forever and even allowed for the creation of the periodic table.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article describes the history of chemistry through the scientific findings and major contributions of several important chemists. These chemists, including Joseph Priestly, Dmitri Mendeleev, and Niels Bohr, discovered properties of gases and other materials, developed the Law of Conservation of Mass and the periodic table, and contributed to the development of atomic theory.

Type: Text Resource

How did scientists figure out the structure of atoms without looking at them? Try out different models by shooting light at the atom. Check how the prediction of the model matches the experimental results.

Type: Virtual Manipulative

This virtual manipulative will help you investigate how Rutherford figured out the structure of the atom without being able to see it. This simulation will allow the you to explore the famous experiment in which Rutherford disproved the Plum Pudding model of the atom by observing alpha particles bouncing off atoms and determining that they must have a small core.
Further explorations of the tutorial could include:

• Describe the qualitative difference between scattering off positively charged nuclei and electrically neutral plum pudding atoms.
• For a charged nucleus, describe qualitatively how angle of deflection depends on: energy of incoming particle, impact parameters, and charge of target.

Type: Virtual Manipulative