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This
activity is
appropriate for children ages 11 and up.
Some previous study of chemistry, including atoms and elements is
welcomed.
An understanding of safe lab procedures is also preferable.
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LEGO® Chemistry starts with students
doing
a
wet
lab in a bag. The lab is from the GEMS guide "Chemical Reactions",
which
uses some fairly common materials for some very uncommon reactions.
Students
work through combinations of all or some of the materials to determine
which were responsible for particular reactions. We go over proper lab
procedure for a chemistry experiment, although not lab writeup.
We next go over some vocabulary pertinent to chemistry, and chemical
reactions. It is at this time that we explain that each LEGO®
brick represents
one atom, and that different color LEGO® bricks represent different
elements.
We discuss molecules, mixtures and compounds. Students practice writing
chemical formulas (although not equations). Finally, using the
LEGO® bricks,
students
will model the original chemical reaction that we worked through.
  
Group Leaders: If you would like to take a look at the student worksheets, please click here to access the pdf files.
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