Description
What our Elements: Chlorine lesson plan includes
Lesson Objectives and Overview: Elements: Chlorine is a high-interest reading comprehension lesson plan. As such, students will practice various close reading and comprehension skills. In addition, they will learn about one of the most common elements in the Periodic Table of Elements. This lesson is for students in 5th grade and 6th grade.
Classroom Procedure
Every lesson plan provides you with a classroom procedure page that outlines a step-by-step guide to follow. You do not have to follow the guide exactly. The guide helps you organize the lesson and details when to hand out worksheets. It also lists information in the yellow box that you might find useful. You will find the lesson objectives, state standards, and number of class sessions the lesson should take to complete in this area. In addition, it describes the supplies you will need as well as what and how you need to prepare beforehand.
Teacher Notes
The paragraph on this page provides a little more information or guidance on what to expect from the lesson. It explains that you can teach this lesson in a whole-class setting or as an independent, small-group activity. You can use the blank lines to record any thoughts or ideas you have as you prepare.
ELEMENTS: CHLORINE LESSON PLAN CONTENT PAGES
Discovery and Practical Applications
The Elements: Chlorine lesson plan contains two content pages. Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele first discovered chlorine in 1774. While experimenting with the mineral pyrolusite and a strong acid called hydrochloric acid, he accidentally released a strange greenish-yellow gas. The gas had a sharp, choking smell and irritated his lungs. At first, scientists believed this gas was a type of oxygen. However, in 1810, English chemist Sir Humphry Davy studied it more closely and proved it was a new element. Because of its color, he named the element chlorine after the Greek word chloros, which means “pale green.”
Chlorine is used in many industries and everyday products. One of its most important uses is disinfecting drinking water, killing harmful bacteria and viruses to prevent diseases like cholera and typhoid. It is also added to swimming pools to stop algae and bacteria from growing. In households, you will find chlorine in bleach, which helps remove stains from clothes and disinfect kitchen and bathroom surfaces. The paper industry uses chlorine to whiten paper, and it is also needed to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic, which is used in pipes, window frames, and even medical tubing in hospitals.
Chlorine Facts and Why the Element Matters
Because it is highly reactive, chlorine does not exist as a pure gas in nature. Instead, it is commonly found in compounds, such as sodium chloride, better known as table salt. The oceans contain a large amount of dissolved salt, making seawater one of Earth’s most significant chlorine sources. In the field of technology, chlorine is used to manufacture electronics like circuit boards and semiconductors.
While chlorine is beneficial, it can also be dangerous in extreme amounts. Chlorine gas is toxic. It was used as a chemical weapon during World War I and caused severe lung damage. However, in controlled amounts, chlorine is used in the medical field to create antiseptics and disinfectants for surgeries and hospital equipment. Doctors need it to make many medicines, including antibiotics and cancer treatments. While you may say pools smell like chlorine, the scent actually comes from the reaction of chlorine with sweat, sunscreen, and body oils, forming chemicals called chloramines.
Chlorine is an essential element that keeps people safe from dangerous germs and plays a significant role in several industries. It purifies drinking water to prevent deadly diseases. It helps keep swimming pools clean and is a key ingredient in household cleaning products. The construction industry relies on chlorine-based plastics like PVC for pipes, windows, and insulation. And the medical field uses it to make life-saving medicines and disinfectants. Even though it must be managed carefully, chlorine is one of the most essential elements for modern life.
ELEMENTS: CHLORINE LESSON PLAN WORKSHEETS
The Elements: Chlorine lesson plan includes two worksheets: an activity worksheet and a review worksheet. Each one will help students solidify their grasp of the material they learned throughout the lesson. You can refer to the classroom procedure guidelines to know when to hand out each worksheet.
CONTAMINATION STATION ACTIVITY WORKSHEET
For the activity, students will follow the steps to conduct an experiment with contaminated water. After the experiment, they will answer the questions at the bottom of the page.
REVIEW WORKSHEET
The review worksheet lists 5 questions based on the content. These questions all relate to the content pages, so students will need to refer to them often for the answers. In addition, each question provides which reading tool the question corresponds to, such as text feature, vocabulary, or comprehension.
Worksheet Answer Keys
At the end of the lesson plan document is an answer key for the practice worksheet. The correct answers are all in red to make it easier for you to compare them with students’ responses. If you choose to administer the lesson pages to your students via PDF, you will need to save a new file that omits these pages. Otherwise, you can simply print out the applicable pages and keep these as reference for yourself when grading assignments.
