School Curriculum: Physical Science – Chemistry

This page is designed to enable parents to understand what their child should be learning, when they should be learning it, and what degree of mastery the child should have attained (at a median level) by a certain grade level. For Homeschoolers, we hope that this page will serve as a valuable asset in establishing a baseline curriculum. For parents whose children attend public or private schools (or for the inquisitive student) this page should give some guidance as to whether or not the school curriculum and methods are providing students with an adequate standard of education. 

What is meant by "Physical Science – Chemistry," why is it important, and how is it approached ? Below is a description of the core discipline and its components, and the answers to why-how-when these components are taught.  Physical Science – Chemistry components have median level goals to be attained by the end of Grade 2, by the end of Grade 4, by the end of Grade 6, by the end of Grade 8, and by the end of Grade 12.

This page does not contain articles for education in this discipline.
For educational articles, go to: Physical Science – Chemistry: A. Structure and Properties of Matter, B. Chemical Reactions

STANDARD 5.6 (CHEMISTRY) ALL STUDENTS WILL GAIN AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE STRUCTURE AND BEHAVIOR OF MATTER.

Descriptive Statement: Exploring the nature of matter and energy is essential to an understanding of the physical universe. This standard leads students from their experiences with the states and properties of matter to the development of models of the atom and the underlying principles of chemistry.

Strands and Cumulative Progress Indicators

By the end of Grade 2, students will:

A. Structure and Properties of Matter

1. Sort objects according to the materials from which they are made or their physical properties, and give a rationale for sorting.

2. Use magnifiers to observe materials, then draw and describe what more can be seen using the tools.

3. Observe that water can be a liquid or a solid and can change from one form to the other.

B. Chemical Reactions

1. Indicators for this strand are introduced at a higher grade level.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in preceding grades, by the end of Grade 4, students will:

A. Structure and Properties of Matter

1. Sort materials based on physical characteristics that can be seen by using magnification.

2. Observe that water can be a liquid or a solid and can change from one form to the other and the mass remains the same.

3. Recognize that water, as an example of matter, can exist as a solid, liquid or gas and can be transformed from one state to another by heating or cooling.

4. Show that not all materials respond in the same way when exposed to similar conditions.

B. Chemical Reactions

1. Combine two or more materials and show that the new material may have properties that are different from the original material.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in preceding grades, by the end of Grade 6, students will:

A. Structure and Properties of Matter

1. Recognize that about 100 different elements have been identified and most materials on Earth are made of a few of them.

2. Show that equal volumes of different substances usually have different masses.

3. Describe the properties of mixtures and solutions, including concentration and saturation.

4. Describe characteristic physical properties such as boiling point, melting point, and solubility, and recognize that the property is independent of the amount of sample.

B. Chemical Reactions

1. Recognize evidence of a chemical change.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in preceding grades, by the end of Grade 8, students will:

A. Structure and Properties of Matter

1. Know that all matter is composed of atoms that may join together to form molecules.

2. Recognize that the phase of matter is determined by the arrangement and motion of atoms and molecules and that the motion of these particles is related to the energy of the system.

3. Know that there are groups of elements that have similar properties, including highly reactive metals, less reactive metals, highly reactive non-metals, and some almost completely non-reactive gases.

4. Recognize that a mixture often can be separated into the original substances using one of more of their characteristic physical properties

B. Chemical Reactions

1. Show how substances can chemically react with each other to form new substances having properties different from those of the original substances.

2. Show that in most chemical reactions energy is transferred into or out of a system.

3. Demonstrate that regardless how substances within a simple closed system interact, the total mass of the system remains the same.

4. Illustrate how atoms are rearranged when substances react, but that the total number of atoms and the total mass of the products remain the same as the original substances.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in preceding grades, by the end of Grade 12, students will:

A. Structure and Properties of Matter

1. Know that atoms are made of a positive nucleus surrounded by negative electrons and that the nucleus, a tiny fraction of the volume of an atom, is composed of protons and neutrons, each almost 2,000 times more massive than an electron.

2. Know that the number of protons in the nucleus defines the element.

3. Know that an atom’s electron arrangement, particularly the outermost electrons, determines how the atom can interact with other atoms.

4. Explain that atoms form bonds (ionic and covalent) with other atoms by transferring or sharing electrons.

5. Explain how the Periodic Table of Elements reflects the relationship between the properties of elements and their atomic structure.

6. Know that many biological, chemical and physical phenomena can be explained by changes in the arrangement and motion of atoms and molecules.

7. Recognize that the properties of matter are related to the structure and arrangement of their molecules and atoms, such as in metallic and nonmetallic crystals and carbon compounds.

8. Know that different levels of energy of an atom are associated with different configurations of its electrons.

B. Chemical Reactions

1. Explain that the rate of reactions among atoms and molecules depends on how often they encounter one another and that the rate is affected by nature of reactants, concentration, pressure, temperature, and the presence of a catalyst.

2. Show that some changes in chemical bonds require a net input or net release of energy.

 

 

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