MS-PS1-1
The standard
Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures.
Next Generation Science Standards
What this standard means
Students need to show what simple molecules and larger repeating structures are made of at the particle level. They should use drawings, ball-and-stick models, or digital models to show different atoms and how they are arranged in examples like water, ammonia, methanol, salt, or diamond.
Mastery means students can explain their model, use labels or a key, and tell the difference between a small molecule and a repeating structure. Common trouble spots are drawing atoms as random circles, thinking the model is life-size, or trying to include too many bonding details that are not needed yet.
Ways to teach it
- Have students build water, ammonia, carbon dioxide, sodium chloride, and diamond models with colored beads and toothpicks, then sort them by structure type.
- Ask students to write: How is a molecule model like a map, and where can it give a wrong idea?
- Show three unlabeled particle models and have students identify the atoms, count them, and decide whether each shows a molecule or extended structure.
- Connect to table salt and pencil graphite by having students sketch how repeating particle patterns help explain what these materials are like.
Plan a lesson for MS-PS1-1
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