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Chemistry Unit 2

Structure & Properties of Matter

OpenSciEd Chemistry

6-7 weeks

Unit Overview

What causes lightning and why are some places safer than others when it strikes?

In this unit, students explore patterns in lightning through videos, stories, and data. They investigate the causes of lightning-like phenomena, develop ideas about atomic structure, charge, and electrostatic forces, apply these ideas to lightning using Coulomb’s law and induced polarization, and examine how lightning transfers large amounts of energy. Finally, they figure out why some materials and locations are safer, connecting molecular structure to properties like electrical conductivity and solubility.

*This performance expectation is developed across multiple units.
†This performance expectation is developed across multiple courses.

Performance Expectations & DCI'S

HS-PS1-1*, HS-PS1-3*, HS-PS2-4†, HS-PS2-6*, HS-PS3-2†, HS-PS3-5†, *, †

View Unit Overview
Lesson Set 1:

What is lightning?

Lesson 1:

When and where does lightning occur and what are its impacts?

Lesson 2:

What parts of the (smaller-scale) system might be causing the (smaller-scale) lightning?

Lesson 3:

What is the spark in the water dropper system and what else is happening in the system before it appears?

Lesson 4:

What happens when we produce static electricity?

Lesson 5:

What is happening at a particle level to produce static effects?

Lesson Set 2:

What causes a lightning strike?

Lesson 6:

What causes static in a lightning system?

Lesson 7:

How are electrostatic forces between objects affected by the amount of charge and the distance between them?

Lesson 8:

How can something that is neutral have an attractive or repulsive interaction with another object without any contact?

Lesson 9:

How can we revise our models to explain what we have figured out about the lightning system?

Lesson Set 3:

How and why does a lightning strike transfer so much energy?

Lesson 10:

Where does the energy come from for lightning to strike across miles of air?

Lesson 11:

Why do the electrons build up in the cloud and then jump to the ground suddenly?

Lesson Set 4:

What makes some places safer than others when lightning strikes?

Lesson 12:

Why are some structures safer than others (and safer than being outside)?

Lesson 13:

Why are you supposed to get away from water when there is lightning nearby?

Lesson 14:

Why are some places safer than others when lightning strikes?